


Runt of the Litter

by Superfan8



Category: Avatar (2009), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternative Timeline, Arranged Marriage, Big animals, Body Modification, Crazy flora, Dimension Travel, Guns, Hermaphrodites, Implied Mpreg, Intersex Loki, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Sex, Jötunn Loki, Loki is a runt compared to everyone else, M/M, Magic, Manipulative Loki, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Pandora (Moon), Smut, Unrequited Love, War Prize!Loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-04-04 20:00:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4150986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superfan8/pseuds/Superfan8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jotunheim loses in the battle for Midgard, Loki is taken to Asgard as a war prize. Trapped in a golden cage until his time to marry Thor, he has little else to do but comb his hair and gaze out upon the golden city. Fate and boredom plays their part and by accident he enters a world far beyond Asgard’s reach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea entered my head, quite suddenly, while I watched the Avatar movie and it wouldn’t leave me alone. I continued to picture Jotun Loki running around Pandora’s jungle to every Na’vi and human’s confusion! I had some trouble with the main pairing but now I know that it will be Jake and Loki. After much consideration I found the perfect way to break or ruin Jake’s and Neytiri’s relationship (ups). Don’t worry, they will remain good friends. I hope that you will enjoy this story for I had a really amazing time writing this!!

The dry, hot air was still an unnatural sensation against his blue skin. In the timespan of five month he had still not gotten use to the high temperature nor the sounds and view from his prison balcony in Asgard’s palace.

His magic was the only thing that protected him from the hot climate. Without it, his body would fail in a matter of hours by dehydration. Odin, upon his capture, had offered to conceal his true form behind pale skin but Loki would never allow for that to happen. If he so chose, he could have done the spellwork himself but why would he willingly choose to conceal his proud heritage, who he was?

It had been for the best. When he had been taken, forced to walk with the Asgardian army back on its victory march, he had taken joy in the crowds astonished expressions. He knew what lies Odin spun about his people. Odin’s citizens followed their king like a sheep followed his shepherd; without question. Most of the common men and women of Asgard had never even encountered a jotun in their whole life. All they had heard was stories about hideous, giant, blue monsters.

When he had walked through the hot, stone streets towards the golden palace, people had been enchanted. His bare, small, perfectly formed, deep blue feet, touched the earth with silent, graceful steps. Around his ankles jingled golden rings with red rubies and along his under and upper arms hung and clung bracelets of different sizes and design. He knew that he was beautiful. In the eyes of the jotuns he had no comparison and as he stepped further towards the golden palace, his head held high, he knew that the asgardians saw the same beauty.

His slim, strong legs ran on for miles and were only highlighted by the beautiful loincloth that hid his privates. It was a blood red piece of thick, soft leather and the front and back piece were connected by a single, black, leather string. The red leather pieces were pierced by studs of gold and black gleaming stones; creating an enchanting pattern. Through each of his pert, darker, blue nipples ran a small rod of black, a dark black, almost as dark as his hip length, black hair. Waved through his locks were gold and colourful silk threads along with rubies and ice diamonds.

As the Asgardian people gazed upon his form, the rumours of the frost giants’ hideous forms were never to be spoken of again. Loki had made sure of that. Odin had not been able to hide his true form, and along with it, the truth.

His red eyes fell shut as a small breeze blew over the balcony; the red leather fluttered in the wind and tangled around his legs in a gentle caress.

In his five month stay in his golden prison, Loki hadn’t done much else but comb his long hair, take ice cold baths, and gaze over the golden city from the balcony. He was bored and afraid, a dangerous combination for everyone in his closer presence. He thrived in chaos but here he could do nothing but pace, back and forth; like a caged tiger.

The day Asgard invaded Jotunheim, Loki knew that he was destined to a cruel fate. He had not known what he would be subjected to but he knew that it would be terrible. With his life in the hands of those pale skinned demons, who thought themselves above all the races in the World Tree, he had little hope.

When Laufey, his sire, sought to expand their realm beyond Jotunheim to Midgard’s lands, it gave Asgard the perfect reason to go to war against the Jotuns. It had been their plan all along.

Jotunheim was rich in many aspects. It had the most exotic blue ice flowers. It had icy forests with giant trees that almost reached the moons in the sky. With icy tundras, lakes of enormous size and mountain ranges, Jotunheim had one of the universe’s most diverse landscapes. Their mountains contained many rare metals and minerals which were highly value and sought after throughout all of the nine realms.

Trade had bloomed between Jotunheim and the other nine realms in many centuries past, and Jotunheim’s population had grown as its people prospered.

Odin, Asgard’s king, saw how well the frost giant thrived and grew in strength and numbers; strength that would cause Asgard to lose influence with time. Odin had sought to destroy them and so he banned all trade with Jotunheim.

With all trade banned between Jotunheim and the other realms, Loki and his people went through a decade of starvation. Their lands were rich with game but with their big population, Jotunheim couldn’t provide meat for all of them. They weren’t farmers. They couldn’t grow any crops on their frozen lands or tame the wild animals and breed livestock. They were fishermen. But if they hunted on the land and in the water, then Jotunheim’s beautiful nature would die and wither in under three years.

Everyone suffered, Loki and his family refused more food than they could give their people and so they starved with them.

The population plunged down rapidly as people starved to death each week. The Jotun’s famous fertility failed for their starved bodies couldn’t go through the normal breeding cycle.

Laufey saw the despair and pain in his people and became desperate. Loki knew that his sire acted to save their people but he also knew that their venture to Midgard meant their total defeat. He was right. Jotunheim’s army couldn’t stand against Asgard’s for long and so Asgard got what they wanted; control and access to the frozen realm’s minerals.  

The day Odin walked through the doors to the throne room and demanded Laufey to bow down Loki followed suit along with his two brothers. Loki had hoped that the Jotun’s pain and problems would end that day, when his sire so easily had admitted defeat, but he was naïve.

Odin was far from satisfied by their surrender. He tore their capital apart, burned their libraries, raided their treasury, and then he took their most holy relic, The Casket of Ancient Winters. They were left with nothing. Laufey pleaded for Odin to reopen the trade routes so his people had a chance to survive. Odin, who already had his desires fulfilled, granted Laufey this single wish for the price of his firstborn, Loki.

His sire had hesitated and that had made Loki’s ice cold heart fill with warmth. Even if his sire hadn’t agreed to Odin’s terms, Loki would have made the sacrifice himself.

He would do anything to give his people a chance, even if it meant that he would never set another foot in his frozen home. He knew that he would probably never see the faces of his brothers and sire again and that he wouldn’t get to marry Thrym, whom he was promised to.

They had been betrothed since Loki’s birth and they would already have been together were it not for Loki’s stunted heat. Unfortunately, he entered the age of adulthood in the middle of the starvation period where his body had no energy to spare to start his natural breeding cycle. When a Jotun entered into their first heat it marked them as ready for marriage and first then could they be wed.

He would have been happy with Thrym by his side. Now, look what he was subjected to; imprisonment in Asgard. He was locked up in a shiny, gold cage until he had gotten nice and fat enough to start his heat cycle. They could wish and they could pray but the last thing Loki would become was a tame and lazy bitch.

“Loki.” His name was shouted out in a loud proclamation as his prison doors flew open.

He didn’t have to turn around to see who had come to visit him, he knew the moment his doors had shattered against the walls in such violent manner. Turning his eyes away from the noisy golden city below, his head spun to look over his blue shoulder, back at the glass windows to the approaching golden beast. 

“My beautiful Loki,” Thor proclaimed as he went through the open glass doors and jumped the three steps up to the balcony. “How do you fair this morning?”

One thick, muscular arm snaked around his back and drew him into and intimate embrace with a big, warm hand resting at his hip. The other took a firm hold of his black tresses by his neck. Oh, how he wanted to bite back, to hit and wound the golden prince, Thor, for touching and treating him like a possession.

“How do you fair my future queen?” Thor mumbled against his brow.

Gritting his teeth together, Loki bore Thor’s possessive treatment. Thor may have acted like he cared for Loki’s wellbeing, to some extent he did, but the question was but pure routine on Thor’s part. Loki doubted that Thor actually listened to his answer, being preoccupied with the task of basking in Loki’s unique scent, his pale nose stuck at Loki’s hairline.

Deciding to illuminate Thor on the complete unimportant matter of his state of being, his answer held no significance, Loki lied. “I’m quite well now that my prince has come for me.”

A little lie and a little smile granted leagues with Thor. Odin’s son was but a big spoiled brat that had been taken by Loki’s beauty the instant he saw him. It had been Odin’s plan from the start to have them wed but when Thor first got sight of him, he had demanded to have Loki for his bride.

He could have fought, he could have protested. Yet, Loki did not. Right now, Loki’s feelings and thoughts held no meaning to Thor because of Odin’s leading grip. But Odin could not be in control forever. Odin was smart, Thor clearly wasn’t. He was relying too much on his strength, his hammer, and Asgard’s reputation.

He had had Thor twisted around his little finger within seconds of their first introduction and with time, when Thor became king, Loki would rule them all. He just hoped that he wouldn’t die of boredom before then.

“You know that I hate to be apart from you,” Thor spoke as he tilted Loki’s head back by the grip in his hair. Being forced to look into light blue eyes, he struggled not to make a face when Thor uttered. “I’ve many important duties to uphold as the crown prince, I’m the placeholder of all the nine realms.”

“And yet, you managed to grace me with your presence almost each day. I’m so lucky.” The sarcasm was wholly escaped on Thor, who gave Loki a brilliant smile before he crushed their mouths together.

Thor’s kisses were never a pleasant experience. He kissed Loki like he wanted to devour him whole, tongue, teeth, everything was used to sample and taste every inch of Loki’s mouth. His warm hands would glide down his naked torso to grab at his hips, waist, or buttocks.

After a kissing session with Thor, he would often have beard burn, be bruised from the strong hands and have discolouring around his mouth from Thor open mouthed kisses. Nothing a little magic couldn't handle but he wished that it wasn’t necessary. He had hoped that their physical relationship would be non-existent before the wedding but the golden counsel had advised otherwise, much to Thor’s delight. Thor was to have intimate interactions with his as much as possible to promote Loki’s heat.

The ever constant feeling of urgency to have his mouth free from Thor’s made Loki lift his right hand to hit repeatedly on the board chest. Thor read the indication as a lack of air on Loki’s part, though this wasn’t true, for Loki was a brilliant diver. However, it usually succeeded in getting their mouths to separate.

With a final wet swipe of tongue and a squeeze to Loki’s plum bottom, Thor parted from him.

Still out of breath, Thor announced, “I’ve brought you a gift.” Only then did Loki become aware of the brown saddlebag slung over Thor’s amour-clad body.

“Really?” Loki’s interest was instantly piqued. _I hope that the idiot decided to bring something useful for once, I would love a book._

Through his time in imprisonment, Thor had brought him lots of gifts from his travels and hunts but so far they had all been useless trinkets and fabrics. Silly robes, dresses, and shoes he now had in buckets but he never wore a single piece. The fabric’s feel on his skin was uncomfortable which was why Loki still wore his red loincloth from the day of his capture.

Breaking away from his form, Thor went through the bag and from it he drew a big collared, gold necklace with red firestones from Muspelheim.

“I want to see it on you,” he said while he held it out expectantly. Loki obliged and turned around as he gathered his long hair over the right shoulder, leaving his neck bare. 

The golden piece came over his head and settled heavily on his shoulders with a loud click. The long golden chain from the lock at his neck hung all the way down to the dimples at his back and the front of the necklace stopped just above his dark, pierced nipples. Turning back around so Thor could inspect him, he watched as his Adam’s apple jumped under his pale skin.

Thor had forgotten how to speak. He would always be blown away by Loki’s uneven beauty; his red eyes framed by long, black lashes along with his teasing, soft, slim lips which hid a wickedly cold tongue.

“You look… you look magnificent, my ice queen,” Thor said, as he went down on one knee.

He should be immensely flattered by Thor’s words and actions. The prince knelt before him like he was a god to be worshipped but that wasn’t it. He wasn’t that god. He was but Thor’s collared possession but perhaps he could use that to his advantage. After all, a collared dog should be allowed to roam around its owner’s perimeter.

He walked the few steps to Thor’s still kneeling form and let his hands glide through the golden hair when the space was closed between their bodies.

“Will you take me on a tour around the palace today? I do so long to stretch my legs.” Taking extra care to thread his long fingers gently over Thor’s scalp, Loki looked deep into sky blue eyes.

“You know that I would do almost anything for you,” Thor spoke as he slowly rose from the ground, “but I cannot bear the thought of letting you go outside these walls and let others gaze upon your body.”

Thor spoke the words softly and slowly like Loki was an ignorant child. All he wanted was to rip out his tongue, that piece of pink, wet flesh and have Thor silenced forever.

“I’m yours,” he said instead, as he bound his arms around the pale neck. “They can look but no one would dare touch me because of your claim. Take me outside,” he whispered sweetly into the pink ear.

“As you wish.” Thor gave a final nod before he broke apart. He did not see Loki’s victorious smile, with his back turned in the middle of roaming through Loki’s dresser. “I want you to dress in something else. You have not changed since you came here and I’ve brought you many fine robes.”

“I’m fine as I’m, I don’t need to change,” he said. But Thor did not heed him.

 “I’ve have had the finest tailors in all the nine realms make these for you, you cannot continue to insist to wear the same cloth each day. It cannot be very hygienic.” 

_Of course that filthy pig would think so, what did he know? Jotuns didn’t sweat, nor did their bodies need to expel waste. Compared to these pale monkeys they were by far the superior beings, but that did not help him now._

“Are you trying to tell me that I smell? If so, I think that you should be more honest about it, you can just tell me.”

“What? No, of course you don’t smell,” Thor yelled, as he whirled around to look at Loki. “I didn’t mean to imply that.”

“Then what is the problem? Don’t I look good enough as I am?” Not that Loki really cared about how Thor thought he looked.

“No, you’re so beautiful, it’s just that I want to cover you up some more. There’s too much skin on display.”

The last thing Loki wanted was to enter an argument with Thor, but sometimes it was unavoidable.

“I thought that we just went over this,” he began, his voice rising with each word. “I’m yours, how many times will I have to tell you?!”

“BUT YOU AREN’T MINE,” Thor roared, as he grabbed his blue shoulders in a crushing grip. “You aren’t mine, not yet, not completely. I wish, pray, and ache for you, how long does your body expect me to wait?”

_How dare he blame me! I didn’t go through years of starvation on purpose._

“I long for our bonding too, but we cannot rush this along, it’s impossible.”

_But maybe…_

“Or there could be a way...” Here he paused for dramatic effect. Much could be said about his powers and cunning but he was also a big drama queen; it had its uses. 

Thor eyes widened, his breath caught before he all but threw himself over Loki. “What do you mean, have you found a way? Loki, tell me this instant.”

“I cannot remember the spell.” He looked away from Thor while faking the most forlorn look he could pull off without laughing. Counting to five, Loki let his face bright up as if struck by the most brilliant idea. “But if I could take a look through your library’s magic section, then I’m sure that I could find the spell to start my heat period.”

“My father…”

“Thor, please,” Loki hurried to interrupt, “I know I can find the spell. We can finally be together. We could be wedded by tonight.”

To seal the deal his eyes became hooded as he whispered. “You could finally make me yours.”

Any doubt left in Thor’s eyes disappeared completely and with a warm hand at his back, Loki was led through the palace corridors. Loki could not brag about having the ability to read minds but he seldom found that he needed the ability to be able to tell what people thought. Right now, he was quite sure that Thor thought that the long hallways of gold had more guards then was strictly necessary. He certainly had problems with glaring at each of the armoured guards as he and Loki passed their still forms.

He could have drawn much amusement from Thor’s behaviour but his eyes were blind by the present opportunity. He, of course, had no intentions to look after a spell that could promote his heat. He sought salvation but he still didn’t know how.

When they reached the golden doors of the royal library, they were intercepted at the entrance by the head librarian.

“My prince and my lady,” the plump, short man bowed to Loki, “what can I do for you?”

“We have no need of assistance,” Thor spoke with obvious annoyance before he continued past the plum librarian. “We are not to be disturbed,” he called over his shoulder.

Through rows upon rows of books, Thor led Loki until he finally stopped in the section of magic books.

“This should be it,” he said and indicated towards the bookcases ahead. “Tell me what to look for and I will help you.”

“Can you read runes?” he asked Thor curiously. He seriously hoped that Thor hadn’t learned the skill; how else was he supposed to carry out his plan?

“I cannot but you could…”

“Then you can’t help me,” Loki interrupted jovially. Taking the few steps toward the first bookcase, he began searching through titles on all the books’ spines for the right book. 

Two and a half bookcase down, he came across something interesting. With Thor right at his heels he settled in a comfy armchair in one of the libraries many reading spots.

“What have you found?” Thor asked excitedly, while he hovered behind Loki’s shoulder in and attempt to see the content of the book’s pages.

 It was a book about time and space travel, not that he would tell Thor that. “This book is about conception and fertility, I’m sure that I can find the right spell to strengthen my body and prepare it to enter into a normal heat cycle.”

He had not dared to hope for this opportunity. If this worked he could travel back in time and save Jotunheim from defeat. The book mostly contained theories and ideas about the subject but if only he could get it to work. 

Flipping page after page, he searched intently for something useful, something that he could work with. He was smart, he was the most powerful sorcerer seen in millennia. The only reason he had stayed in the golden palace as a hostage was to keep Jotunheim free.

But this book held the answer to his problem; this was it. Page 394, portals. In theory, he should be able to open a portal back in time without stepping into an alternative dimension. He wouldn’t simply disappear from the timeline, which would continue on without him. This way the future as he knew it would be erased from existence and a new future could be forged.

“I’ve found it. Give me a few minutes and I should be able to get this to work.”

“You’re incredible, Loki, I knew that you could do it.”

_Yes, yes, yes, I know that I’m brilliant, you great big fool._

“I can’t wait to have you under me,” Thor continued with a heavy voice right behind Loki’s ear, “to explore every inch of this body.”

Thor’s warm breath blew around Loki’s neck and his birth marks tingled where Thor traced them with his index finger.

“I want to be buried in you for hours, to feed from your body as I want you to feed from mine. I’ll cover you in my essence till it’s the only thing that you breathe, smell, touch, and see. I’ll make you scream my name, I’ll make you beg for my cock.”

“Thor!” he exclaimed, while he turned around, to look at the idiot in question, with an angry scowl. “I can’t concentrate when you distract me like this.”

_You disgust me!_

“I’m sorry, my love,” Thor said with a silly smile, “I’m just so excited to finally be with you. My shield brother, Fandral, has told me that the Frost Giants are intersexed.”

_Have you really only heard about that now?_

“Is it true?” Thor asked with childlike eagerness.

“It is. Now, would you...” But Thor cut him off.

“You have a pussy? A tight, wet, virgin quim for my use, I can’t wait to see it.”

“Thor, please,” he implored one final time to stop Thor’s vulgar rant. “Let me work in peace”

_God, this has to work._

Whoever had invented the spell had been unsuccessful in making a fully functional portal but then, he wasn’t Loki. Going through the spell work again and again he made his own few adjustments; changed a few words for more precision and strength. He was ready.

“I’m ready,” he said, as he closed the book and raised himself from the chair. “You will have to step back so the spell doesn’t affect you,” he explained. 

When Thor had taken several steps back, enough so that Loki was sure that he wouldn’t have time to follow him, he began to chant.

It burned him. The spell wrung every magical core in him like a dishcloth, empting every deposit for power. But it worked. A small blue ring came to in the middle of the air, right in front of him. It grew and grew in size till it was big enough for him to go through.

“Loki,” Thor called out in alarm.

But he couldn’t reply. Sadly, he couldn’t even leave with a final, biting remark. The moment Loki stepped through the blue sizzling power-field, he was gone.  


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eywa's will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always nervous when I post a new chapter but you always put my fears to rest. You guys are so awesome!!! Thank you for the amazing support on my unusual new story.  
> Also, I couldn't have made this chapter without my inspiration source; the amazing story Firefly by Araceil (chapter 3, to be more specific. I've her permission.) If you haven't read her story... do it :D  
> Just so everyone is on the same page:  
> Loki is around 6.2 feet tall and Eywa adores Loki ;)

He had never felt so misplaced in all his life; everything felt utterly foreign. He couldn’t have moved his arms, legs, or head even if he had had the energy to do so. His first real coherent thought was that his plan had backfired and by a terrible accident he had sent his consciousness back to the safe, comfortable cocoon that was his bearer’s belly. It would explain why he couldn’t control the movement of his body parts and yet why he still felt and unexplainable sense of safety.

He couldn’t hear, see, or smell. He couldn’t even feel the familiar slight movement of his chest rising and falling with each breath. Could he be dead? Was he even sure that his mind was connected with his body?

_I escaped only to die. How incredible dull._

Floating, with no sense of time or space, he drifted and let himself enjoy the moment of peace. He didn’t know how much time had passed, it could have been seconds, days, or years but suddenly he became aware of movement. It was a throbbing echo that vibrated through every fibre of his being. His being? And with each punctual throb, his body woke.

With every beat of his heart the locks which had kept him bound opened. Beat by beat the five senses returned to him. His body ached with pain, exhaustion, and hunger from the amount of energy it had used to create and uphold the portal. His magic had run dry from the spell, like a well which had been emptied of water, and it was only because of Loki’s great magical powers that the spell hadn’t killed him.

He still hadn’t found the strength to open his eyes by the time his brain received the first signals of touch from his blue skin. He could tell that he was on his back on a rather comfortable, soft surface which was moulded to fit his body perfectly. Gentle breezes blew around him in uneven intervals and reached portions of his naked skin.

A blanket of pulsating energy surrounded him from all sides, tangled over his body in a web of silk.

_Where am I? Home or Asgard?_

Struggling to open his heavy lids and see for himself if his plan had succeeded, they slowly but surely broke apart. Light, there was too much light and his lids fell shut to protect his sensitive pupils from the sharp rays. He wasn’t home, his plan had failed.

Adrenaline shot through his bloodstream as panic seized him and in one quick movement he shot up from his comfortable resting place with wide eyes.

_This isn’t Asgard, this place?  Beautiful._

Loki had only heard stories about the green foliage that surrounded him and while he had seen the treetops of a faraway forest on Asgard, he knew that this wasn’t a forest but a jungle. He couldn’t be on Asgard as Asgard had no jungles. The only realm that had the environment for jungles was Midgard which meant that he was trapped in the mortals’ uncivilized world.

He had no desire to live amongst mortals for millennia. Explore their world, yes he would enjoy that, but Midgard offered little else then its astonishingly diverse nature. It wasn’t like him to frown at a present opportunity but even with the full strength of his magic there was no guarantee that he could ever return home, which was what he really wanted.

Setting his worries aside to ponder over at a later date, he easily let his curious eyes wander over the unfamiliar flowers and trees at the outskirt of the giant clearing which was encased by curving rock arches and a beautiful discoloured sky. He couldn’t see any signs of intelligent lifeforms and with his magic weakened by the previous strenuous spell he couldn’t search the surrounding area for life. But that didn’t mean that there was none. He didn’t doubt that the vivacious jungle accommodated various animals he hadn’t heard about before.

Completely captivated by the beautiful sights all around him, Loki didn’t realise that the warm climate had no negative effect on his otherwise unprotected, cold body nor that his chest had yet to move, in the natural act of respiration. Only when Loki made to turn his head around, to gaze further at his surroundings, did he discover that the movement was intercepted by an unknown force. He was restricted from moving his head the barest of degrees left. Puzzled by the restriction, he looked down at himself to solve the mystery.

_What the…_

He didn’t even get to finish the thought before he instinctively grabbed the white, glowing root, which had small tendrils covering his mouth and nose, and pulled it away from him.

_It’s inside me, in my mouth, my throat. Get it out! Get it out!_

It was a horrifying sight to see an almost 2 feet long root withdrawn from his mouth. The moment his face was freed, his empty lungs were desperate for air and he automatically took a big gulp of air. It burned, and he couldn’t contain the scream that left his lips. His throat and lungs were on fire. It felt like someone had taken a red, hot piece of iron and stuck it inside him.

Covering his mouth with a fist, he bit down to conceal his loud scream, his nostrils flaring with his rapid breathing pattern. Gradually, the pain left him and his breathing returned to normal. His eyes, which had fallen closed by the pain, flicked open anew to glare at the suspicious flora.  

He was sure that he had thrown it a couple feet away from himself but he found it stuck alongside his right thigh. That, apparently, wasn’t his only problem. He was covered in them! Furred, small, tendrils rose from the ground and outlined his legs and feet.  

Frightened, he tried to scoot away, only to realise that his mouth and nose hadn’t been the only openings the tendrils had decide to invade. If it wasn’t for his disgust, he would have found the situation quite hilarious.

_My virtue has been stolen by some kind of vegetable organism. What I wouldn’t give to see Thor’s reaction._

The smaller tendrils around his legs gave way easily as he moved to stand up. Inch by inch, as he moved into a standing position, the roots were pulled out. This time, he spared himself from the disturbing sight of seeing the longer roots leave his body openings.

Free, at last, he hurried stepped away from the tendrils before he turned back around to look at his… rapist?

He had lain at the foot of a beautiful white, pink tree to which the tendrils clearly belonged. The tree pulsed with a glow that promised safety and comfort. It had such allure that he wanted to step closer.

He didn’t though. He had heard that Midgard contained flesh eating flora, which captivated its pray with attractive colours and scents. He shouldn’t be deceived or swayed by the tree’s allure but he honestly felt secure and at home. Apart from his depleted magic, he felt genuinely fine and refreshed. This tree couldn’t mean him any harm, surely.

Through his speculation a new group of tendrils had grown around his feet and as he stepped away he left a clear footprint behind. The small, white treads reaches for him in an attempt to touch his skin. He watched transfixed as the tendrils followed him with an almost magnetized attractive force.

It became a game. A game, which made Loki laugh for the first time in years as he ran and danced around the clearing, trying to escape the following tendrils. The times the tree managed to catch him, it let him go easily, before it was ready to catch him again.

He didn’t want to leave his new safe haven but his hungry stomach would not be ignored and with one look around the clearing, it was obvious that there wasn’t anything edible around. 

“I’ll come back and visit you when I’ve settled in this strange place.” The hand he had placed on the large trunk glowed pleasantly and with hesitant steps he stepped away, into the green foliage. 

A few minutes into his search for food, a small gnawing feeling that this wasn’t Midgard, grew larger and larger, with each new discovery he made.

At first, he hadn’t given much thought to the tall trees. He was much more enraptured by the green colours all around him, so sacred and scarce in his own realm where it was extracted from fragile, cave mushrooms. The huge trees were on par with the giant icy ones in Jotunheim, and while this wasn’t an unusual sight for him, he was sure that the trees on Midgard didn’t grow to be this size. The gravity on Midgard was much higher than on Jotunheim, whose low gravity enabled all life, animals and different flora, to grow into giants.    

_This cannot be Midgard. The high gravity would make it impossible for trees to grow to this height! Where am I? Vanaheim? No, they doesn’t have jungles like this, none of the nine realms do._

The low gravity probably meant that, like on Jotunheim, the animals were of enormous sizes that would easily tower over his smaller form. He wasn’t easily intimidated by size, born as he was, much smaller than the average Jotun, but with his magic dangerously weakened and in an unfamiliar environment, it would be stupid to be anything but wary.

Rustling leaves alerted him of movement high above the ground; his eyes were instantly drawn to the source. The creature was blue, much like him, with a few dots of yellow. It hung from a branch by its four spider-like arms, its two short legs dangled freely mid-air. It looked like it could fly, with a thin membrane stretched between its arms and legs, but this creature was undoubtedly made for climbing and navigating through the treetops. It was like no other creature he had ever seen. It stared back at him curiously with its two yellow eyes, like it didn’t know what to make of him.

Quicker, than he had thought possible, the blue being made its way down to the ground. It was smaller then what he had expected the creatures of this realm to be, probably only about 3 feet tall. It also seemed friendly enough. From its blunt fingernails he would guess that the creature was a plant and fruit eater rather than a meat hunting predator.

Now that they were closer, it was easy for Loki to see that it wasn’t him, the blue being was interested in, but Thor’s gold collar.

“This? You’re interested in this silly trinket?” he asked, as he hooked a finger under the many rings of gold. “You can have it, considered it a peace offering from my intrusion upon your realm. I hope that you will spread the word that I’ve come in peace.” His sarcastic reply seemed beyond the simple lifeform. Only when Loki went to unclasp the golden lock and held the heavy jewellery out before him, did the blue being seem to comprehend.

With a high pinched yell did the animal reach out and grab the gold with all four hands. While the creature went to sniff and hesitantly taste the gold, Loki studied the smaller creature further.

“You know… your uncivilised behaviour does remind me of someone. And since you share so many of his unrefined traits it would only be suitable to name your kind after him.”

The Odinson seemed wholly uninterested in Loki’s soft chatter, completely enraptured with the shiny gold and red stones. Only when the Odinson had finished its evaluation test on the necklace, and deemed it acceptable, did it join the golden rings around its smaller neck before it swung its way back into the trees.

“You’re welcome,” he called out after it but it had already disappeared.

_Yes, this ungrateful, simple being could indeed pass for Odin’s spawn._

His search for food and shelter continued and while he did come across some blue seeds from a field of giant, blue, bristled flowers, he didn’t dare eat any. Maybe, he had made a big mistake when he let the Odinson go. He could have pretended that it was Thor while he strangled the life out of it with the shiny necklace it was so fascinated by.

_There had to be at least three days’ worth of meat on that thing._

Pushing his thoughts of food aside, a skill he honed in his years of starvation, he treaded carefully through the lush underground.

Pushing a bush of big flat leaves out of the way, he got his first clear view of the realm he had stepped into. From the edge of a rather steep cliff, he could see floating mountains, giant flying lizards in hundreds different colours, more lush jungle on the ground and on the floating rocks, rivers, lakes, and past the floating stones and creamy clouds, he could skim the beautiful blue sky. 

_This place is definitely not Midgard. There may have been flying lizards once upon a time but floating mountains? Definitely not._

From here it didn’t take him long to find water, he could see a river breaking over the ledge into a waterfall and simply followed its direction. The water flowed with great haste before it fell over the cliff and he decided to go against the stream in search of calmer water.

He walked along the riverbank before he came upon a clear lake. He didn’t hesitate to step into the liquid and take his first gulps of water. The water felt neither warm nor cold upon his skin, to his great puzzlement, but he wouldn’t quell the optimistic discovery.

The bottom of the lake was filled with white, eye-sized, round stones hence the clear water. He could easily make out the moving figures of different fish, in small and big schools, in many different colours. They swam around, undeterred by his presence, and nipped at the collection of green seagrass along the bottom. Their fearlessness to his presence made him wonder if they had any natural enemies or if they lived peacefully, unaware of danger. They could be poisonous, but he doubted that, and after a more throughout examination, a dissection, he would be certain in his case.

Taking a moment to enjoy himself, he swam and drove among the schools; sometimes he felt a fish nip along his skin. He was tempted to catch a fish or two for dinner but he wouldn’t go hunting before he had a retreat set up. In a different approach to subdue his hunger, he drove down to grasp a handful of green seagrass. If the fish could eat it then surly he could too. 

He settled in the water bank and took a hesitate nibble of the green, gooey plant. It taste sweet and therefor he immediately liked it, having a big sweet tooth. Refreshed and sated after more chunks of gathered seaweed, he continued his search, within close walking distance to the water. Hopefully, he could find a place close-by the resourceful lake.

His search was not in vain. The day had almost run its course when he came upon a promising sight. An enormous tree trunk came into his line of view. Without measuring equipment, he deduced the tree to be around 170 feet in diameter, which would give him plenty of room. What caught his interest was the darker quality of the bark, the tree was dead, which meant it was probably hollow.  

Taking a few steps around it, he looked for a way in and found one small opening many feet’s above the ground. The good news was that he would be safe from ground predators and away from the damp wet underbrush. The bad news was that he was unable to climb up the smooth surface to the small hole. With the dark night approaching he saw no other way around it. Gathering what little magic he could spare, he summoned a collection of rocks to himself. They hovered around his form before he shot them at the tree with great speed. Nailed, into the bark on top of each other, they made a direct, strait line up to the hole.

_This has better be good._

Drained by his exhausting day, the climb was long and hard but he had stuck gold. The tree was hollow but not completely hollowed out and there was still a base which made a good, solid, wooden floor. The hole he had come through would be easy to cover but he hadn’t seen the big opening which led out to a big side branch. That would be a problem to solve for another day. Flat on his back, he gazed up through the circular opening to the darkening sky.

_I’m free._

As his eyes fell closed, he failed to see his birth markings light up in an unfamiliar florescent light that shone throughout almost every native being on Pandora.

::::::::::

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He was up and about the moment the first rays of light shone. He didn’t have time to lie around all day when there were so many things to do.  

Climbing down his stone ladder, he used the first section of his day to gather whatever resourceful items he could find around his home. He gathered broken branches for wood, he went over every different plant he could find; to test its leaves for strength and the thin new shoots and twigs for flexibility.

When he went to the river to gather food and water, he had already made his first bag out of a giant square leaf. It covered the ground like a blanket and he would gather stones, food or other items upon it before he rolled it together like a pipe. Then he could bind the two ends around his body and move around undisturbed. It wasn’t perfect as he had to fold the whole leaf out to access it contents but it would do for now. He has also found a purple flower which was perfect for gathering water. It could contain around three litres of water in its soft, tough skin which was very flexible; it would shrink and expand with the volume of water in it.

He may have grown up as a prince but that didn’t mean that he didn’t know hard work.

He knew how to hunt, on land and in water, knew how to sew and make the best fishing nets. He was a talented warrior and very lethal with a spear, bow, knife, and sword. 

His main objective now was to eat, fill up his water and food supplies, go home, then look over the different stones he had gathered and see if he could make some useful stone tools; the useless ones, he could pile up into a fireplace. Then if he had more time he could make some doors to cover up the openings in his home. That was how Loki’s first days went.

The more settled he became the more energy and time he had to search the remaining area around his home and make luxury items; like his bed which was made out of balls of yellow fluff that grew on top of some thin high tress.

He discovered that the jungle was brimming with animal life and that there were hundreds of Odinsons living in the trees. As the days passed he had time to study the life of this weird realm in greater detail. For a day he followed a group of Odinsons through the trees. He saw how they moved, what they ate and how they communicated with each other; cries of food, cries of danger. He took day trips out to the floating mountains and used the hundred feet long vines to climb them. He would then enjoy the amazing view, discover new animals and find beautiful items. He collected colourful flowers, scales, stones, shells, and feathers which he used for decorating his home, weapons, bags, and hair.   

He weaved fishing nets and baskets to contain fruits and water. He made knives, awls, and spears out of the stones he found. He had wanted to hunt for bigger land prey the moment he had had the weapons made but for some reason it seemed wrong to hunt the peaceful animals. Like the fish and the Odinsons, the animals of this strange realm were very welcoming to him. Yesterday he had wandered through a horde of enormous armoured animals and they had welcomed him in their herd. How was he supposed to murder a dumb animal in cold blood when it lightly nuzzled his side and offered him food? He couldn’t. He even felt bad when he hunted for fish and he had caught and eaten fish for most of his life, it didn’t make any sense.

Eventually his spear and nets became superfluous. He could sit with his feet in the lake and every sea creature would swim to his side from where he could easily pick his dinner. Thankfully, he wasn’t flooded by the land and air animals but they didn’t flee from him. He couldn’t experience the thrill of hunting which was one of the only forms of entertainment he could have experienced in his solitude.

However big his desire was for new leather, claws, fangs, and meat it seemed wasteful to kill such a big animal when he could live on fruit.

He still mourned the chance to hunt, he would have been an excellent hunter. He had more control of his body then he ever had before and he was becoming much more in tune with his magic. His step and breath fell without a sound, silenced by his magic. His body, after days of exercise, could move faster and for longer periods of time without tiring.  

He had first thought that these were natural changes as a result of a healthier lifestyle but after a few nights when he decided to explore the nightlife, he knew there were other forces involved. First his birthmarks, his symbols of royal heritage and bloodline were glowing with a white light, like some of the plants and animals of this realm.

The streams and lakes from where he collected water could sometimes, around midday, have clouds of steam rising from the surface. Still, he never found the air or any water to be too warm or cold for his comfort.

Normally, he would use magic to protect his skin from heat but this was something entirely else. For some reason his body had gained the ability to withstand heat on its own, without the need of magic.

He had to test it to be sure and so Loki boiled his own water. He didn’t have a container strong enough to hang directly over an open fire, so he had to heat up big stones that he then dropped down a basket of water. When the water boiled, he held his hand over the streaming liquid and prepared himself for the burn. In one quick move he lowered the hand and to his astonishment, nothing happened. It didn’t hurt, his skin didn’t blacken.

_There is only one possible explanation for this, for all of this. I’m actually surprised that flowers don’t pop up wherever I step. It’s time to confront the annoying, touchy-feely tree._

Loki found his way back to the mysterious tree the next day without fuss. His feet were instantly swarmed by light tendrils the moment he stepped into the clearing. But he didn’t pay them any heed.

“I’m not a child and I will not be treated like a child!” He was pacing back and forth before the white tree trunk with a blue, accusing finger held out. “Whatever it is that you are doing, I want you to stop it, now. I don’t need to be coddled, least of all by a big, soft tree.”

Without the aid of wind, a string of the tree’s pale pink leaf came up to brush gently against his cheek.

“I’m not mad at you,” he said as he stopped his wild pacing. “I don’t think I could stay mad at a tree for very long. I’m sure you did what you did to help me and I probably wouldn’t have made it without you.”

_I’m growing soft. Stupid tree!_

With his lips curled into a silly grin he backed up against the trunk and let himself be held by the soft thrill of the tendrils.

“Thank you,” he said. And then he added as an afterthought, “but I want no more coddling after this!”

He sat by its trunk for hours and told the weird tree all about his discoveries and about the home he had built. It was nice to have someone to talk to, not that it could answer him, but it wasn’t difficult to imagine or pretend that it could talk back.

The hours flew by fast and when he realised how much time he had spent, talking to a nonresponsive tree, he decided to leave, for now judging his need for socialising sated. There were still hours left of the day before dark fell and he had a long walk back.  

Bidding the tree farewell with the promise to visit again, he began his long trek back.

Navigating his way silently through the jungle, he was extra observant for any new plant life. He always searched the trees and ground for new food, material, and flowers to his growing collection. Different flowers, he had discovered, would when grinded become a pasty substance and work like paint. He had already made green, red, and yellow which he had used to paint the walls inside his home. 

He froze mid-step as a shiver ran up his spine; danger. His mind only registered the thought before he let himself fall to the left, seconds before giant, black claws pierced the empty air.

He rolled before he quickly got into a deep crouch, ready to spring away at a moment’s notice. The predator was a beast that he had never come upon in the jungle before now.

_When I said that I wouldn’t tolerate any more coddling this wasn’t what I had in mind. Definitely not a nine feet high and eighteen feet long black beast, with very sharp claws._

Making a quick assessment of the beast’s body, he could see that its neck and back were encased in armour, tough hide which he doubted his knife could pierce. He also doubted that he could outrun or hide from this deadly beast, not that he wanted to. No, this was the fight that he had been waiting for.

Pure reflex saved him from the lethal hit of the creatures black armoured tail. Now on his feet, Loki called forth a dozen of his clones to confuse and divide its attention. But to his surprise the black beast showed no hesitation and clawed through the first three clones with ease. The moment its two left forearms swung to the side in a great lunge to dispatch two more clones, Loki caught a glimpse of its soft, unprotected belly. In a move to spare the great predator a slow death by his stone knife, he brought his arms up in to summon giant, ice spikes. They formed upon his call immediately and rose up from the ground into the soft flesh.  The beast died instantly and fell to the ground when the spikes vanished with a flick of his wrist.

He flew to the slayed creature’s side immediately, knife out and ready to claim his prize. He would definitely take some of its armour and teeth for tools and weapons. He would also have liked some bone but it would be time-consuming to remove skin, flesh, and then break the bone into pieces that he wanted.

It was a beautiful animal. It reminded him of the small felines he had seen running around in Asgard’s streets. This one was just much bigger and much more dangerous. He had only just started to cut some of the armour of the back when rustling leaves alerted him of new company.

 _Please, tell that they don’t hunt in packs._      

Tumbling out of the nearby bush was the black form of a young cub. Guilt settled rapidly in his belly and the knife fell out of his hand in shock. He had killed a nursing mother.

The little cub saw no danger in the presence of its strong mother and happily ran to the silent form, nuzzling into its mother’s bigger side. The cub was big and healthy, almost as tall as Loki but it was still just a cub. Young and inexperienced, the cub wouldn’t survive long without its mother, it would be kinder to kill it.

Already dreading the task ahead, he picked up his knife and started to creep closer to the oblivious cub. The young beast saw Loki, before he could deliver the killing blow, and started to mewl pathetically at him while it backed into its mother still warm side.

He couldn’t do it. He didn’t know if it was the loneliness or his guilt that made him hesitate but he sheathing his knife in defeat.

_I’ll give this a try, if you can accept me?_

From his bag, he pulled out one of the dried fish he had taken with him and held it out by its stiff tailfin. The cub sniffed the air hesitantly and for minutes it seemed like nothing would happen. But hunger or courage pulled the cub from its mother’s side and the fish was eaten in one bite. The giant head, on the size of his chest, came closer in search for more and Loki quickly fed the cub the rest of his fish. 

Loki was wholly unaware of the consequences of his act. From that day forth, the little Palulukan had created an unbreakable bond with him.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think?? Was it anything like you expected? Let me know.  
> Eywa’s weird tendrils provided air for Loki, like an umbilical cord, while also preparing his body to breathe the air on Pandora. When he took his first breath it was like his lungs were used for the first time; like a baby.  
> Loki has heard of flesh-eating plants but he obviously doesn’t know how big they are or that their main prey are insects. I’m sorry for scaring you, Loki.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki had never been tasked with the responsibility of caring for another life. He had not yet had his own children and the notion of pets was non-existent on Jotunheim. He only knew how to take care of himself.

The cub, Thrym, was named after the Jotun Loki would have been mated to had Asgard not invaded his home country, and the cub was dependent on him for everything. 

Thrym was a ball of energy in constant movement. One moment he would follow Loki’s tail, bump into his legs more often than not in his eagerness to follow, and then the next moment he would be gone from sight.

Loki wasn’t pleased to discover that the young male cub had the patience and idiocy of Thor. But Thrym’s short attention span was merely the result of his young mind assessing as much information as possible to better prepare him for survival.

Thrym was easily distracted by passing small beetles or lizards and he would playfully follow his chosen prey; unaware that he was moving farther away from Loki.

Even though the cub was more trouble than it was worth, Loki would always turn around and track down his new companion. He would follow Thrym’s destructive trail, broken branches and downtrodden vegetables, only to find the young cub huddled in misery which could easily be salvage by the sight of Loki’s blue form.   

The night when Loki had first brought Thrym to his home, he had been adverse to let Thrym inside, for while the cub was small now, Loki knew that it would grow and turn into a giant. It would be time-consuming and stupid to spend unnecessary time to break Thrym of a habit when it could be avoided with immediate action.

Therefor he climbed the few stone steps up to his door and left Thrym to pace back and forth on the ground in frustration. He wouldn’t have to worry about Thrym for the night; the surrounding area had been guarded with his magic and nothing could slip in or out of his barrier.

Loki had only laid his head on his pillow of yellow fluff balls when Thrym started to wail pitifully. Loki considered himself a patient man and so he had forcefully closed his eyes with the intent to sleep, trying to empty his mind and fall into blissful slumber. But sleep seemed impossible. Thrym was persistent in his effort to catch Loki’s attention.

With and angry snarl, he had flicked his wrist and muted the room.

But sweet victory didn’t last long. Peace only lasted for ten minutes before the whole tree shook with the force of Thrym’s pushes. Loki had peeked outside the small hole, tired and irritated, to demand absolute silence and the insufferable cub had stopped only to start again when Loki disappeared back inside.

In one of his less proud moments Loki had relented but he was happy that no one was around to witness his defeat. He had then led Thrym around to the bigger entrance and broken down the tree which he had used to seal the opening.  As Loki stood on the giant side branch, Thrym had been quick to catch on and so he used his already deadly sharp claws to climb his way up.

That night, Loki unwillingly shared his yellow bed with Thrym but if he had any complaints the following nights, Loki didn’t mention them. 

 

 

Loki’s once silent approach through the jungle’s lush underground was ruined by the cub’s uncoordinated, eager steps. The once calm and friendly animals now fled at the sight of Loki, or more like the sight of his charge.

Not only was Loki often shadowed by Thrym but after nights spent huddle together in sleep, Thrym’s dangerous, predatory scent clung to Loki’s form and even without Thrym’s presence the animals would still detect danger.

Loki didn’t think of this as a loss. He could finally hunt. He preyed on all kinds of animals and brought them down with his weapons and traps. Now that he had Thrym, a growing cub, he didn’t have to worry about which kind of prey he caught and killed for the meat wouldn’t go to waste.

As days passed, Thrym grew bigger and stronger at a frightfully rapid pace; Loki would swear that he could see the black legs getting longer when he observed Thrym’s form through their day until he surpassed Loki in height.

He didn’t only grow bigger but he matured quickly as well. Palulukans were nocturnal, solitary animals and they only sought each other out in the mating season or when they fought for their territory. Cubs would be abandoned by their mother after three months when the young palulukans should be strong and experienced enough to take care of themselves. They had no natural enemies apart from each other and most palulukans perished in combat for their territory.

But Loki’s and Thrym’s relationship was different; they had created an abnormal, unusual bond. There was no specific word for what Loki was for Thrym; Loki was his mother, his caretaker, his pack member, sibling, and his mate.

Thrym was determined to learn from his mother while he was still a cub, to stay at the side of his pack member and sibling, and to provide and protect his mate.

As the days passed, Thrym studied Loki’s movements until he too moved with grace and precision. He would silently follow Loki around and revise how he hunted, set up his traps, and killed. Palulukans were meant to hunt at night and sleep in the day but Thrym quickly adapted to Loki’s schedule.

While there was no doubt that Thrym was the jungle’s king, the highest link in the food chain, Loki couldn’t help but worry about him when Thrym went out to roam alone. Should Thrym encounter another intelligent being like Loki - unpredictable, driven by desire, seeking challenge - Thrym could be in danger.

What started out as small training exercises between him and Thrym became full blown, destructive battles. Thrym learned how to dodge and invade different weapons, protect his vulnerable underbelly, and escape traps.     

They became better at reading the other’s body language and it wasn’t long before Loki could communicate with Thrym through different sounds and hand movements: tell him to stop, hide, attack, go home, fetch.   

With Thrym growing ever stronger and bigger, Loki didn’t hold any qualms about letting Thrym roam free. His charge wouldn’t be gone for more than a couple of hours to secure his and Loki’s territory and hunt. He was no longer dependant on Loki for food; now it seemed like their roles had been reversed. 

Thrym would proudly drag his kills back to Loki and let him take whatever he wanted before he ate the rest. Loki would without fail praise Thrym and then proceed to give him a long belly rub that had the black beast purring in content. 

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”Thrym, Thrym, to me.”

He didn’t bother to raise his voice very high, Thrym always heard him.

_Even though I can’t understand how; he doesn’t have any ears._

The fluorescent nightlight from the various plants had only just started to dim down at the first hints of morning light. It was still early dawn but Loki was already wide awake and climbing down the stone steps from the hollow tree to the jungle floor.

Slung over his head and shoulder were a bow and a quiver filled with teeth tipped arrows and colourful tail feathers. The bow was made from the grey, flexible bone of one of the many giant winged animals Thrym had brought back home. The bowstring had been made from his own strong black hair.

He had no intention of going for a hunt, rather he sought to explore new horizons. He was back at full strength, confident in his abilities, and had survived days in the jungle’s strange environment.

He was ready to leave his home ground and hopefully learn more about the alien realm he had accidentally travelled to.

No sound was heard as Thrym’s black form came jogging through the treeline. His giant head lowered automatically into Loki’s awaiting hand in the familiar gesture of a greeting.

“We are going to try something new today,” Loki said as he scratched his nails over the black snout. “But you won’t have any objections now will you, Thrym?”

Thrym never did and only growled happily back in return.

“I thought so. Now lie down, you giant lump.”

Thrym’s heavy body lowered immediately at the command and Loki gave the giant head an awarding pat before he walked around to stand by Thrym’s left shoulder.

What he was about to do was bizarre, abnormal, and unnatural, in his own eyes. No Jotun had ever had the imagination nor the thought to mount and ride an animal and yet here he stood with that very intention in mind.

War stories had always been shared between the returning Jotun warriors and their comrades in arms after great battles but some of them reached far beyond the soldiers’ ears. Any survivor from the last devastating battle with the Aesir could with startling clarity describe the scene wherein Odin descended on the battlefield. In golden armour, spear in hand, on top of an eight-legged beast that made him equal in height to the tallest of Jotuns. That tale always inspired fear within the people of Jotunheim even though they didn’t understand the full use of the horse, Slepnir. Even Loki hadn’t grasped the full meaning of horses until he had arrived on Asgard as a prisoner and he was surprised to see that horses were normality for the Asgardian people.

Grapping hold on whatever leverage he could reach, Loki swung himself up onto the wide back. Thrym was wider and bigger than any horse and it was only because of Loki’s long legs that he could seat himself without gilding off the smooth back.

He settled between the spaces of the two giant front legs and held himself fast with the strength of his thighs and shins. Thrym had lain calmly and quietly through the whole ordeal and had let Loki settle at his own pace, only at the moment that Loki’s heart returned to its normal steady rhythm did Thrym slowly rise up to his full height.

“Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.” Loki continued to repeat in mild panic because of the foreign feeling even though Thrym had stopped moving the moment he had reached his full height.

Thrym’s giant head moved around to look unimpressed back at him.

“Don’t you dare look at me like that; I just need a moment to compose myself that’s all. For once you will have to wait on me, which isn’t all that much to ask of you, hmm?”

Big yellow and black eyes continued to look into his own reds and as Loki was distracted by their staring match he was wholly unprepared for Thrym’s sudden move.

In one moment he was perfectly seated, the next his whole centre of balance shifted and he would have fallen backwards if not for his legs’ firm hold on Thrym’s sides.  Thrym had sat down in an impatient move and he continued to watch Loki as he frantically waved his arms back and forth as he tried to catch his balance. 

“Thrym, you will stop this this instant or I will tear out your…” He had a long string of threats ready to leave his tongue but Thrym moved before they could leave his mouth. Loki felt his arms become entwine with the long appendages from Thrym’s head and with his arm secured, his balance returned.

As Thrym ran around, making sharp turns which left deep imprints upon the forest floor, Loki forgot all about Thrym’s earlier misgivings and erupted into laughter. The feeling was accelerating, mind-blowing, he was not only a passenger but had become a part of Thrym’s body. He could feel every muscle move in the powerful black legs. It was almost like he and Thrym had fused together as one being.

He had had only a single purpose with this experiment, to cover ground at a faster rate but he had never imagined that he would gain so much more. Power and strength, he was untouchable as they flew through the jungle.

They were perfectly synchronized. Loki would only have to make the barest of shift to the left to have Thrym running in that direction. Leaves and flowers blurred together as they leaped over rivers, cliffs, and trees, farther and farther away from their small home.

Day and night became superfluous, they ran, ate, slept, and killed when they wanted.

There were so much more to be discovered in this strange realm. Loki’s small home had been in the centre of the area with the floating rocks, he discovered that further away laid denser jungles and further yet, wasteland. He found new species of animals and plants which had different flowers, fruits, and qualities.

They had travelled far and wide for over a week and today was yet another beautiful day. They were not far from home now, at least another day’s journey, when he asked Thrym to slow his pace. Someone was following him, and had been for several hours. At first he had dismissed it; the jungle was full of wildlife and collision couldn’t be avoided, eyes were everywhere. But now he was certain that a small group of four were watching Thrym and him. 

_I believe that an introduction is in order. It’s quite rude to lurk in the background._

He slid down Thrym’s back, letting the black form shield his body before he disappeared behind an illusion. His pursuers didn’t let their surprise show or be heard, instead their gazes left his invisible form in search of his whereabouts, unaware that Loki moved closer on silent feet.

They were clearly not midgardians or elves or Jotuns; they were not like any being he had seen before. They were equipped with bows and knives so these beings had to process some form of intelligence to have made advanced weapons to aid them.

Their cyan forms towered over him much like his own brethren’s did and they too were enclosed with tribal markings. Their forms were thin and agile, with long limbs much like his own for he wasn’t like the typical Jotuns, who in general were more robustly built.

They were dressed much like himself, with loincloths so he could not see if they, like him, were of a single sex. They were male in appearance, with long braided hair, long tails, four fingers on each hand, pointed ears, and fangs.

“This is an interesting development indeed,” he said as he materialized back into sight before them. As one they had an arrow knocked on the string and pointed at him but he ignored the threat to his life and walked closer.

“I’m sure that you’re just as curious about me as I am about you. So, why don’t you lower your weapons and then we can work towards indulging our curiosity?”

The four males looked at each other in question and Loki’s keen eyes didn’t miss how the others looked for guidance from the male with the long necked necklace. Loki’s suspicion was confirmed seconds later when the male made sign to lower their weapons and the others followed through.

“Have you come along with the Sky People?” the leader of the little group asked as he took large steps closer to Loki.

He didn’t shy back from the giant form that walked curiously towards him; he had, strangely enough, an overwhelming urge to be closer to these new beings. Loki looked back into big, yellow eyes as the ten foot tall male kneeled before him, the others following close behind to get a closer look at him.

“How interesting; are there more people like me here?” he heard himself ask even though he doubted that it was a possibility. The looks that he received from these four other individuals clearly spoke for themselves; they had never seen anything like him before. If they had they wouldn’t be so curious or ask if he really where a part of these Sky People.

_Whatever that is…_

“We have never encountered another soul like yours.” Loki didn’t know if this was a good thing or not and in his ignorance he chose to remain silent and watch what the group would do next.

“It’s clear that you aren’t a part of the Sky People but then another question arises, what are you then?” The leader asked with his bow stuck in the ground, he leaned forward on it with both hands as he gazed up and down Loki’s form, taking in his markings, black hair, feet and fingers, clothes and jewellery.

“I’m Loki Laufeyson, prince and sorcerer of Jotunheim, the realm of the frost giants. I bear you no ill will or tidings, I’ve come upon your realm quite by accident, I’m afraid.”

“Welcome, Loki Laufeyson of the Jotuns, to the planet Pandora. We are known as the Na’vi and I’m Tsu’tey of the Omaticaya people and these are my clan brothers. We’re sorry to hear that you have been parted from your home, this place Jotunheim, I hope that you’ll find yourself at home here.”

“Pandora? I’ve never heard of this name before,” he mused, his mind was already drawing and assessing all of the planets positions in the world tree. He had done all of this before, of course, but he still didn’t know of any realm that fit the description of Pandora’s qualifications.  

“Nor have we heard about frost giants,” Tsu’tey answered with a fang-filled smile that his brothers copied.

“You are not much of a giant compared to us, wouldn’t you agree?” One of the other males asked with good humour while they lay down their gear on the ground and sat down around him in wonder.

“No, I’m indeed not but the same cannot be said about my kinsman who equals you in height. I’m a special case within my realm and highly valued because of my appearance and ability to do magic.”

“Magic, was that what made you disappear earlier?” Tsu’tey asked and held his hand out to touch him, he wondered what this magic was and if he could somehow hold and feel it on Loki’s person.

Loki humoured the four males and held his arms out in permission to touch him. Tsu’tey was the first to touch the skin on Loki’s arm and his hand flew back in shock. The other three males attempt instantly stopped at Tsu’tey’s reaction, caution overweighing their curiosity.

Tsu’tey didn’t appear to be hurt, in fact he wasn’t. He had merely been shocked that Loki’s skin was cold to the touch which was unlike any other being on Pandora, even the Sky People.

“You can touch me, I promise that you won’t be harmed; I’m just cold by nature.” With his reassuring words, they all placed their hands on him to feel the foreign cold, shocked into silence.

“And you’re right, I used magic to cast an illusion upon myself to turn invisible but that is not they only thing that I can do with my magic. Only the imagination limits the wonders magic can perform.”

“I’m a quite skilled sorcerer, if I do say so myself,” a clone he had created continued on as it stepped through foliage to his left.

The four warriors all drew back in shock, their hands had reflexively reached for the weapons at their side at the prospect of an incoming battle.

 “That is indeed a mighty skill,” one of the warriors mumbled in awe, his giant, golden eyes stuck to Loki’s second form.

Loki was glad to discover that he had captured the four males’ attentions as easily as he gained other people’s attention in whatever realm he treaded.He didn’t doubt his skill, he knew for a fact that he was extraordinary but he still loved to have his ego stroked with words of flattery. He had never needed to show his magical powers off to gain others’ attention but he gladly would to Tsu’tey and his clan brothers when they could appreciate the use of his talent. In Asgard he had only been viewed for his exotic beauty not for his magical powers which had been viewed with nothing but scorn; it was a nice change.

Long fingers stroked his birth markings and ran through his hair with almost childish curiosity, Loki didn’t doubt for a second that while his looks were foreign he would still be considered attractive in the eyes of the four males, much unlike the Sky People whose mare mention had gained looks of disgust and loathing.

He wondered what the story where between the two races. Had the Sky People invaded Pandora much like his own home country had been invaded by the Aesir; were they too pale skinned demons controlled by a power hungry king?

On the outside he remained perfectly composed, he even had a silly little smile stuck on his face to keep the Na’vi at ease. In truth, he was anything but at ease; should he worry about the possibility of being involved in yet another war?

He had no obligation to these people and he didn’t seek bloodshed at the risk of his own life. No, he would take Thrym and flee at the first sight of war.

_And where had that black giant decide to run off to?_

“Are you at war with these Sky People?” he asked, subtlety looking around the green wildlife to catch sight of Thrym but he couldn’t see the black predator for the four curious Na’vi before him.

“They came from the sky in their spaceships,” Tsu’tey began, using his hands to make a flying motion to illustrate the Sky People’s arrival. 

“The Sky People came, unaware that we inhabited this planet and when they saw us they expressed what we believed to be joy. We were equally surprised at the sight of each other, and even though we were equally on uncommon ground, we decided to make peace. We showed them the wonders of our world but they didn’t understand and in their ignorance they became afraid of the animals, trees, and us. They call of savages,” Tsu’tey spat out with clear disgust, hatred clouding his eyes. “But they are the real savages. They have showed us their true human nature.”

_Humans? No, it cannot be. The Midgardians don’t have the technology nor the knowledge to travel through space. They are but dumb, uncivilised, short-lived creatures._

“They are violent, greedy, and without compassion. Wave upon wave of ships arrive now with their soldiers who needlessly kill, tear, burn, and cut everything within their range. They no longer care for our laws or sacred grounds, they think themselves above us and invade our land for their own gain. We do not know what they want or why they seek to destroy everything they touch, but then a disease doesn’t need a reason to create ruin, it’s just made to do so.”

Tsu’tey’s detailed description fit the self-destructive nature of humans almost too perfectly but it couldn’t possibly be them. The Midgardians that he knew lived in caves and had only just discovered fire. Mainly they used stone clubs to hunt for they still hadn’t figured out how to metalize their realm’s many minerals and craft stronger weapons. The most advances weapon some of the remote tribes had developed was the spear and therefor he couldn’t see how the Na’vi, who processed bows and arrows, could have any trouble with the Sky Peoples disposal.

He would have to seek the Sky People out himself to see if they really were from Midgard.

He couldn’t help but slightly hope that it was them that the Na’vi had described, as he had always found them to be a fascinating race from the very first moment that he heard tale about them. In truth, they were an insignificant race, looked down upon by all the other eight realms and they would have been invaded and wiped out ages ago, if not for Asgard’s protection.

The humans struggled to survive every day of their life and through their lives, they accomplished nothing. The one thing that they had were an unusual ability to reproduce, their _females_ popped children out at a faster rate than any fertile Juton could compete with.

And yet, somehow, with all of their shortcomings, they had found their way across the universe and safely reached Pandora?

_I very much doubt so._

“My realm was too invaded and overrun by filth.” It was on purpose that Loki let his true emotion of sorrow slip through his red eyes. It was perfectly easy to gain the Na’vis’ trust and acceptance if he rallied with them over a common enemy, not that he had any intentions to fight with them against the humans.

“I was captured and expected to mate with the prince of my realm’s invaders… in my desperate attempt to escape my horrid fate I came upon your home realm.”

The four Na’vi’s already angry and disgusted facial expressions, turned absolutely furious at the mention of his arranged marriage to Thor. Loki knew that he had gained their trust but he had not predicted that he would receive such a strong reaction from them.

“Then it is possible that the Sky People are the same people that invaded your home?” one of the four Na’vi males stated carefully in a question.

Loki knew that the idea wasn’t very farfetched for the Aesir could travel to any realm that they so desired with the Bifrost, yet he shook his head. “No, I do not believe that they are the same people. The monsters that captured me go by the name Aesir, not human.”

“Either way it does not matter,” Tsu’tey spoke with utter certainty. “If the Sky People discover you, they will capture you and devour you like anything else, or tear you apart. You’re unlike anything we have here on Pandora and they mistrust everything which is different.”

Tsu’tey’s weathered blue hand came down to rest, yet again, upon Loki’s blue skin. It gave a reassuring, careful squeeze on his shoulder to accompany Tsu’tey’s next words. “We will not let them take you, Loki.”

“I’m grateful.” His voice was light and he had added a hint of a breathy, relieved tone. He had moved down in a bow, just deep enough to hide his facial expression which had broken out into a wide, teeth-filled smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of you guys for the amazing support! Keep it up, your comments are very appreciated!!


	4. Chapter 4

Loki had spent several weeks together with the Omaticaya tribe to gain their trust. But with their trust so easily gained and their smiles warm with welcome, Loki couldn’t make himself use them like he had first intended.

They had been mistrustful when they first met him, nothing Loki hadn’t been expecting when their home had been invaded by strangers. But when the rest of the tribe learned, like Tsu’tey and the hunters, that he wasn’t part of the Sky People, they gave him a chance. Loki had at first shamelessly taken advantage, like a wolf between defenceless sheep, but as he realised that the Na’vi had accepted him as one of their own he could no longer see the point.

They willingly shared their knowledge, home, and food with him and all the hate and loneliness within him soon dried out.

Loki would never have thought that he would come to care for any other species than his own but he had discovered that these loving people shared many characteristic with the Jotuns. They cared for life and nature, they cared for their own and, while heritage was important, it didn’t blind them or divide them. 

While the Na’vi didn’t have royalty, they were ruled by the clan leader, Eytukan, and the spiritual leader, Mo’at, who was a guide to their deity, Ewya. Loki had never been one to believe in higher beings and thought those who did to be fools, but if the clan believed in this Eywa and Eywa had somehow voted in his favour, then who was he to protest? When he asked them who Eywa was, they simple replied that she was the spirit of the forest, their ancestors, and the planet. That Eywa had accepted Loki as one of her own and it was her will that he would be a part of her people. 

The Na’vi was like many other species in the World Tree divided into two sexes. Loki had been able to confirm this fully when he had been invited down to the lake to bathe. Their group had left early in the morning and walked through the jungle to a sparkling lake where the Na’vi didn’t hesitate to drop their clothes. They were unashamed of their bodies like the Jotuns and as Loki stripped down, eager to witness their reaction to his body, the two races stopped to stare at each other; their reason for going to the lake in the first place completely forgotten. The Na’vi had never seen someone like Loki before but they didn’t lash out and shun him for his difference; to his surprise, they thought him beautiful. He didn’t know why he had thought that they would be disgusted by his duel sex when he saw how well they treated each other. They didn’t distinguish between sexes; the females carried weapons much like the males did unlike the Aesirs and Midgardians where the sexes had been categorised into two roles.

After the first night he had acquired his own bedding within Hometree’s branches, a new place for him to call home. Unfortunately that didn’t count for Thrym. When Loki had first called him forth the Na’vi had been seized by panic and thus chaos had erupted. Thrym had been impossible to control around the panicking Na’vi, for while Thrym saw Loki as one of his own the Na’vi were no more than prey in his eyes; and the running Na’vi had been very tempting prey. By the time Loki had gained control of Thrym, he had to face the fact that the Na’vi would never learn to trust Thrym completely and so, he sent him away. Whenever Loki lived with the Na’vi, Thrym would roam the jungle outside Hometree’s territory waiting for his return. So whenever Loki left to seek solitude in his own small home it would be the two of them together.   

But after weeks in the Na’vi’s company, Loki had learned more about the wildlife on Pandora. While he had discovered many of the edible plants on his own, he still had much left to learn. Loki would often join the hunters and food gatherers and while they made their way around the forest, they would teach him the names of the plants and animals.

He learned that Thrym was a beast called the Palulukan which meant the “dry mouth bringer of fear.” And that the Odinsons were creatures called Syaksyuk; however, he did prefer his own nickname more.  

Even though the Na’vi towered over Loki and their limps were longer, they were in no way superior to him in their natural environment. Loki was just as agile, if not more graceful then the Na’vi and he easily followed on par with them; much to their astonishment. He was quickly acknowledged as a skilled hunter and they gave him the title Taronyutsyìp, which meant little hunter. The young adored him, the strong admired him, and the old respected him.

The sound of laughing children made Loki open his eyes. He let his legs uncurl and fall on either side of the thick tree branch he had been sitting on since before early dawn. He couldn’t go back to sleep, not after wakening from a terrible nightmare, flashes from the war, and had chosen to sit out in the humid air alone to gather his thoughts.   

There were six blue children running around on the ground in the clearing right under him. They were playing a game of tag in the safe sight of their parents’ watchful eyes. Even in the middle of troubled times, the Na’vi managed to shield their children against the fear that plagued them. He felt ashamed that he would have first wanted to take advantage of this loving people who already had enough problems to look out for. In the beginning, he had had to struggle to remain smiling in their company. He was careful to keep up his appearances, to show that he was grateful and kind but as the days passed he found that he did not have to pretend. He couldn’t believe how bitter he had become, had been.

_‘But after months of being locked in a golden cage and having to endure daily sexual assault, who wouldn’t become bitter?’_

“Hey, Loki.”

He drew his gaze away from his black toenails to look down upon the children on the ground and noticed that they were all staring back up at him.

“Won’t you come down and play with us?” they asked with excited smiles on their faces when they saw that they had his attention.

“I’m not in the mood for games today, my small friends,” he said before letting his head fall back against the trunk to stare at the light falling through the leaf filled crown. He had been sitting here for over half a day without realising it. Sighs of disappointment could be heard from below and the sound of them made Loki blow out his own dramatic sigh before he waved his hand and made snow fall from the thin air, right above the clearing. Shrills of delight and surprise sounded from below him and he knew that he wouldn’t be bothered again.

_‘Those spoiled brats.’_

The hunters would have already left many hours ago which left Loki with no plans for the day. However much he liked to help out, he didn’t want to weave clothes or gather resources right now.

_‘I’ll just have to find some other way to entertain myself for today.’_

“Loki?” It was Mo’at, who stood by the root of the tree, who had called out for him. “Is there something troubling you? I worry about you, child.”

“It’s nothing,” he replied before walking away. He walked along the tree branch, one foot in front of the other like a cat, and before the branch grew too thin to carry his weight, he jumped to the next tree and the next. He didn’t bother running. He just walked and jumped until he was so far away from Hometree that he couldn’t catch a glimpse of it anymore.

While he had told them much about himself, he still hadn’t told them everything. He couldn’t tell them of his innermost fears that Thor would somehow come find him but worst that he had left his family and people to die. He couldn’t be involved in another war and be witness to more misery, not even for them.

He came to a stop in his walk and thoughts when he realised that he was in a part of the jungle he had never been to before. It was the area between the Omaticaya people’s territory and the Sky People’s base. He would admit that he was curious but he wasn’t stupid enough not to heed Eytukan and Mo’at’s warning to stay away from the Sky People’s base.

A pleasant tingling sensation erupted from the back of his hand and moved all the way up his arm to warm his chest. Loki wasn’t surprised when he looked down and saw the little white creature there. The little pests followed him everywhere much to the Na’vi’s amusement.

The little thing moved and danced around his hand until it slipped away like it had been caught by the wind. Loki followed its path with his eyes, down to his right side but froze when he saw the moving figures.

They were moving down on the ground at least sixty feet below and they hadn’t spotted him so far. With their pale faces and bodies covered with amour, it was impossible to mistaken them for any other being but Sky People. There were five of them, all of them men, and they walked around with some sorts of plastic weapons that Loki could only guess were bows, as they were too dull to be anything else. 

_‘How intriguing this is. Five tiny mortals fall directly into my path.’_

As Loki leaped down the tree, following the men, he made himself invisible. He walked right behind them for a while, truly unimpressed when nothing amusing happened. The group was highly paranoid, they didn’t talk much and spent most of their time pointing their pathetic weapons at everything that moved, as well as didn’t.

When one of the men, Allen, Loki believed he was called, asked his comrades yet again if they had spotted anything, Loki lost his patience.

_‘I always have to do everything myself.’_

He quickened his pace a bit, making sure to keep his footfalls silent. He wanted to make a bit of a mess, nothing harmful really, but as he stepped up beside the last man in the party, Jamie, with the intention to trip him, the man saw him.

“You there, stop,” the man shouted surprising all of his comrades who jerked at the loud noise. As soon as Jamie pointed the weapon at him, Loki leaped away, not because he felt threaded by the weapon in the human’s hands but because he had been surprised that the human had managed to see through his illusion.

“Jamie, what is it? Where’s the threat?” one of the men asked while they all drew together and looked nervously around.

“I don’t know for sure, Jason, but I saw the image of a person. It was right in front of me. We can’t let our guard down; it’s probably still out there,” Jamie shouted once more and, to Loki’s astonishment, it appeared as if only Jamie had been able to see him. If he had to guess, he would say that it had something to do with the thing that covered Jamie’s eyes that made him able to see through his illusion, since none of the other humans wore them.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” Jason called. “If it’s a fight you want, coward, you’ll have to make a stand.”

Loki knew that he should walk away while he still could get away with it. All he had wanted was a bit of fun but now that his cover was blown, it would probably turn violent if he showed himself.

_‘What a shame. I hate when things doesn’t go as planned but there are only five of them, I can still have my fun.’_

 Loki dropped his illusion and stepped forward from his spot behind the tree. It was Allen who saw him first and by his sharp intake of breath his comrades turned around to look as well. Loki walked forward with a big smile on his face, uncaring of the weapons pointed at him.

 “Greetings, mortals, I’m Loki Laufeyson. I’m sorry if I scared you but know that it wasn’t my intention to bring you any harm.” Faking his innocence, he held up his hands in mock surrender. “I was just curious about you. You see, I come in peace, I’m completely harmless.”

“What the hell are you?” Jason asked with confusion written all over his face. 

“Stay where you are,” Jamie screamed, taking aim with his weapon and Loki stopped dutifully. “Can’t you all see that it’s just one of those blue freaks?” 

“I don’t know, Jamie, it doesn’t look like them.” And as the men continued to look at him, they unconsciously lowered their weapons a bit.

Loki wasn’t wearing the gold studded red leather cloth he usually wore; he had changed it because he didn’t want to wear the piece out. The Na’vi had taught him how to work on animal skins and plant material to make clothes and he now wore wine red web pants made out of a stretchy gummi material that fit him skin tight. The many bracelets, that he had with him when he first came here, he had twisted into his hair which hung lose down his back.

“You’re right, I’m not originally from here but nor are you. What I want to know is where you people hail from?”

“We’re the ones asking the questions here, not you,” Jamie said, once again raising his weapon.

 “Jamie, stand down. You’re not authorised to shoot it; I think that we should take…” Jason barked out but Loki cut him off.

“How rude, my name is Loki not ‘it.’ You should treat your betters with respect or I’ll have teach you and you won’t like that.”

“Are you threatening us? You don’t even have a weapon,” the man named Taylor spoke with scorn.

_‘That’s what you think.’_

Before any of the men could react, Loki had driven in between them, delivering kicks and punches faster than the men could defend themselves. First they tried to rely on their weapons but when they didn’t fire, unaware that Loki had blocked the whole barrel with ice, it was already too late. Loki had them beaten into the dirt in no time.

_‘Right where you kind belongs.’_

“So, I’ll ask you all again,” he said, looking down upon them from the tip of his nose. “Where do you hail from?”

They didn’t answer. Whether it was because they couldn’t or didn’t want to, he didn’t know for sure but he would set his bet on the latter possibility, given the way they were all moaning.

“Son of a bitch, I think that it broke my nose.”

At the show of disrespect, Loki didn’t hesitate to walk over to Allen and kick him in the face one more time for good measure. But when he turned back around, Jason was back up on his knees with a tiny box in his hands.

_‘Another one of their weird weapons.’_

Loki could only laugh when the man pointed the weapon at him, trying genuinely to threaten him.

 “You think you can threaten me, Loki, with such a puny weapon?” The moment he finished speaking two threads were shot out at him. But Loki simply stepped aside, reached out and grabbed the threads to pull the weapon out of Jason’s hand. But the moment his hand came in contact with the threads, his world grew dark.

 

His whole body ached with pain and when he made to sit up he was hit by a wave of nausea. He felt dizzy and the bright light above him didn’t help his sensitive eyes recover.

“I see that our prisoner has finally awakened.”

_‘Prisoner?’_

Squeezing his eyes together, he could finally make out his surroundings. He was seated on the floor in a complete bare room with three white walls and a glass one at the end. On the other side of the glass, behind the door with a metal lock, a heavily muscled man with short hair and scars across his face stood.

Making a show of looking around, Loki let out, “This is much less grand then I would have preferred. You know, my last prison had a bathing tub thirty times the size of this cell and I still wasn’t the most comfortable person to be around. Are you sure you want to keep me here?”

“This isn’t a holiday, Bluebells. And believe me when I say that you won’t feel comfortable for long, unless you answer my questions. I’m Quaritch, Colonel Quaritch. My men told me that you aren’t exactly from around here so I can’t help but wonder how you ended up here and where the rest of your people hide?”

Loki couldn’t help but let a humourless laugh escape. Of course this bunch of muscles would have nothing else but war on his brain, so like Thor, unluckily for Loki this one probably wasn’t as dumb.

“You don’t know this yet but I love games, a lot more than you I’m sure. But right now I wouldn’t mind answering your questions if you would just answer mine in return.” He was taking the easy way out but he also didn’t want to spend more time in this cell if he didn’t have to. If Quaritch wouldn’t play his game, he would leave this place.

“Things don’t work like that, Bluebells, I’m the one in charge around here,” Quaritch said with a lopsided smile.

Loki rose elegantly from the ground and made his way to the glass before stopping just before the transparent wall.

“You don’t even know what I want to ask yet,” Loki said, taking joy in lowering his head a bit to mock the three centimetres height difference he had on him. “It’s very simple; I’ll even let you get the first question.”

They were both silent for a while studying the other and, in Quaritch’s case, in more ways than one. Loki masked his expression of disgust, something he had learned to do long ago, and simply waited to see if the man would play along.

“What kind of creature are you?” Quaritch asked at last, once more letting his eyes wander from Loki’s face.

“I’m a Jotun also known as a frost giant and I hail from the great planet Jotunheim.”

“A frost giant? Is that why one of my men got a bad case of frostbite?”

The new information made Loki smile with glee, happy to get back at those bastards for stunning him. “He should learn not to touch me without getting my permission first. Now, it is my turn. Here you’re called the Sky People but you are in facts humans and you hail from realm known as Midgard, don’t you?”

“Midgard, never heard of it,” Quaritch said, running his hand through the back of his hair. “I come from planet Earth.”

“Good to know,” Loki replied with a smile. Earth, Gaia, or Midgard they were all the same thing which meant that he still had a chance to get back to Jotunheim.

“Quaritch,” a female roar sounded from further down the hall, and not long after a red haired woman stepped into his view.   

“Why did you place him in that awful cell, I clearly told your men to place him in block 133. But I don’t know why I’m so surprised; they are your lab dogs after all.”

“Grace, you know that I enjoy our talks but I’m in the middle of an interrogation and I don’t have time for your usual feeble talk, so either you walk out on your own or I call for my lab dogs to fetch you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Quaritch, someone has to stay and make sure that you don’t do something stupid.” It was easy to see that the two humans loathed each other beyond words but because of the situation they had to tolerate the other.

“Is she your woman?” Loki asked, already knowing the answer.

“Like hell I’m together with this trigger happy moron,” Grace answered angrily before pointing a finger at herself. “I’m Grace Augustine, leader of the science program. I’m trying to understand the life on Pandora; I’ve almost figured it out and then you appear.” She didn’t look unhappy about his arrival, her eyes shone with excitement and her lips were slightly curled.

“We ran some test on your blood and tissue and the results are unlike anything I’ve seen before now. You’re not from around here are you?”

While Loki admired the woman for her curiosity and drive, he didn’t appreciate being tested on. He wasn’t an animal they could lock up and poke around to their own desires.

“I know I’m incredible, so let me make this very clear for the both of you. I’m only here because I want to be.” His smile was wide but his eyes were ice cold, and Grace froze stiff when he made eye contact with her. “I don’t appreciate the treatment I’ve received so far; nobody touches me without permission.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Grace stuttered out at last.

“Well, I suppose I can forgive you this one time. It was all done in the name of knowledge and I admit that I can relate to you in that sense. I’m Loki Laufeyson and you are indeed right when you say that I’m not from around here. I come from the planet Jotunheim a frozen realm, home to the Jotuns, also called the frost giants.”

“Giants? I don’t mean to sound smart but you don’t strike me as a giant,” Grace said already back on her feet at the opportunity to gain new knowledge.

“That’s because I’m not,” he answered without further elaboration.

“And how do you explain that?” Grace wanted to know but Loki was quick to cut her off.

“I could answer all of your questions but I don’t see why I should. You haven’t exactly made this a pleasant meeting so I don’t see why I should be inquired to tell about myself when I know so little about you.”

“I can see your point and I would be more than happy to let you out of here but I don’t think that this moron beside me will let that happen.”

“She’s right for once, Bluebells, you won’t see the other side of that cell for some time to come. Unless, of course,” Quaritch made a show of crossing his muscled arms in front of him, “you’re willing to be under surveillance 24/7.”

With a disarming smile plastered on his face, Loki threw his escape plan into motion.

”That doesn’t sound so bad at the moment. Perhaps, we could wait with the interrogation? I feel this terrible ache in my whole body and I wouldn’t mind sleeping in a bed for once.”

“Oh, come on,” Grace let out, looking ready to bang her head against the wall. But both of the men ignored her, too busy staring at the other.

“Lead the way, Colonel.” It was so easy to play this role, after months of practice with Thor, he had learned the way of men; that they were greedy and controlled by desire.

Loki patiently waited for the door before him to open and as it swung to the side he had to remain himself not to simply run.

“No tricks, Bluebells,” Quaritch said, taking a firm hold around the locks under the base of his head.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he let out with a purr before walking in the steered direction. The hallways he was lead through looked all the same, square empty tunnels of metal. They did cross a couple of soldiers on their way that all stopped to stare at him and every time Quaritch had to threaten them with kitchen duties to get their asses into gear.

“What’s the problem between you and Grace?” he asked in an attempt to get Quaritch’s attention away from looking at his ass.

“I believe it all originates from the difference in our personal interests. Shall we say that while she wants to run you through tests in the lab, I have my own personal ways to study you.” The shivers that ran up Loki’s spine were entirely out of disgust, although the breathless moan he let out could be mistaken for something else. They had only been walking for a while and Loki still had no idea where they were, but he couldn’t tolerate this mortal’s touch anymore. And so, Loki stopped walking to which had Quaritch immediately tighten his hold around the black hair.

“I want you to take me, here, now,” Loki breathed out as he turned his head carefully around to look upon Quaritch’s scarred face.

 “You sure?” The scum answered with a filthy grin. “The cafeteria is just down this hall, anyone could come by.” 

_‘Perfect.’_

“I would like that very much, Colonel.” And as Loki drew his face closer, making sure to pout his lips and lower his eyelids, Quaritch’s hold upon his hair loosened. A hairsbreadth away from touching, Loki flipped down onto the floor and kicked Quaritch in the shins, making the heavy man fall back. Loki was already up and sprinting down the hall before Quaritch’s back hit the floor.

_‘There has to be windows in the dining hall. Not that it really matters, I’ll just blow my way through the walls.’_

Loki heard the bang as Quaritch fired his weapon before he felt something fly past him. But he didn’t have the time to be amazed by the humans’ sudden developed weapons, as he sprang inside the crowded cafeteria. He ignored the yells of alarm and surprise, concentrating instead on the spell that made the glass before him freeze and break before he collided with it.

As the glass broke down, blaring alarms penetrated the air, alerting the humans of the gas that swept inside. But Loki didn’t care as he ran over the asphalt covered ground and past the tree line. He was already gone. 

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Extra info:

Thrym will never get along with the other Na’vi; it is embedded too deeply in his instincts that they are food.

Jamie was wearing infrared glasses; the ones which can pick up on heat. Loki isn’t really warm, he is actually the coolest thing on Pandora. But everything else on Pandora releases heat, even the flora, and Jamie could see Loki because he shielded the heat from the plants behind him. (If that makes any sense)

Loki doesn’t know that the white things are seeds, at least not yet. Right now he believes that they are just small animals.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos!! I never expected my crossover to receive so much attention and I really do feel the love and appreciation from you guys!! Also lots of thanks for the lovely comments!! They are some of my favourite things to read on things site.  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you all for the kudos, along with each and every one of my reviewers for the wonderful words of encouragement and praise. I read and savour every word you all write, and I always rush to read your new comments when I get word of them from my mailbox. Forgive me for not always answering back but know that your words reach me and help me write. To Kristie, NikoMars, GabxLuci2796, PND, PotionsChaos, Kirjava3456airbender, and Alois_Zirconia I want to say thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment <3

Green foliage and animal life flew past Loki as he sprinted through the jungle, away from the Sky People’s camp and into more familiar territory. His cold heart hammered excitedly from its place in the middle of his chest, not because of his sudden escape but because of the news of the Sky People’s origins. If Midgard existed, so would Jotunheim and her people. He still had a chance to get home or come into contact with his family, who he was deeply worried for. The Midgardian’s sudden development in technology could not have been so sudden and indicated that much time had passed. And instead of going back in time like Loki had intended, it would seem that he had travelled forward in time. He couldn’t know what Jotunheim had suffered at the hands of Asgard in the time of his disappearance. But though he hated Odin, he comforted himself with the knowledge that Odin wouldn’t let an entire species, a species that had chosen to surrender, die.

As the light gradually disappeared from the sky and the flowers and trees began to glow with their own inner light, Loki continued his silent run back to Hometree. It was him a mystery why Thor had not come for him, arriving in that ray of light that was the Bifrost in his golden armour to whisk Loki back to his golden cage. He didn’t fear Thor’s rage about his escape; he was certain that he could convince Thor that it had all been an accident. He wouldn’t be happy to be back in Asgard where he had started, but at least he could always try again.

But Thor hadn’t come, none from Asgard had, and that could only mean that this realm was somehow shielded from Heimdall’s gaze; which could both turn out to be a blessing and a curse.

A giant black shadow joined him in his run and Loki came to a stop to greet Thrym.

“What have you been up to?” Loki asked with a fond smile and the question was answered with deep purring sounds as Loki’s blue hand scratched Thrym’s snout.

“Not as much trouble as I, I’m sure.”

But Thrym seemed to disagreed as he proudly showed the trophy hanging from his teeth. It was a pack, clearly of the Sky People’s making, which made Loki beam.

“Oh, have you been eating pale-skinned demons? Aren’t you just the most dangerous beast in this whole jungle?” Thrym loved the attention, and Loki was happy to shower Thrym with attention and belly rubs while he simultaneously checked Thrym for injures.

“Can I have that?” Loki asked after having found no injuries on his companion, and Thrym released the pack willingly when Loki took hold of it. Sadly, it contained nothing that held Loki’s interest and he discarded it without a second glance to the forest floor. Loki had hoped to find one of the Sky People’s advanced weapons to examine it, but he would just have to steal one at another time.

Ready to head back again, Loki jumped upon Thrym’s back with ease, after having long since gotten used to riding, and enjoyed the rest of the ride back to Hometree with Thrym.

At the foot of the giant tree, Loki was meet by the tribe’s children and young.

_‘What’s going on here?’_

It wasn’t unusual for the children to be together, but none of them were playing or being unruly; in fact, all of them sat expectantly on the ground with their heads fixed curiously in the direction of the ground opening into the giant tree.

As Loki came closer, the children noticed his presence and sprang up to meet him. The young Na’vi, being much more accepting of Thrym, was unbothered by his looming form as Loki jumped down among them but Loki was still quick to send Thrym away before he got tempted by the young trusting Na’vi.

“Loki, Loki, Loki,” the children all yelled in excited greetings, causing Loki to laugh as they surrounded him.

“Calm yourselves, children; what is all the fuss about?"

He always felt a bit silly when he called them that, as most of them were already much bigger than him; but the Na’vi children didn’t seem to mind. 

“A demon in a false body has been captured. A meeting has been called to decide what is to be done with the prisoner.”

_‘Really? I must see that for myself.’_

“We haven’t been allowed to attend the meeting,” a sullen Na’vi child muttered disappointedly as Loki moved to the entrance of the tree.

Loki smiled at the sulking children around him. “I promise to tell you all about it after,” he said with a wink. “But in the meantime, I expect you all to behave.”  

“Thanks, Loki,” The children called after him from the entrance as he continued to walk further inside.

Loki had already heard from the other Na’vi that the Sky People had somehow managed to create false bodies, identical to that of a Na’vi, and that they could inhabit them at any time. It was something Loki was curious to see for himself. He had desired the ability to shapeshift but he hadn’t even been close to mastering the skill yet. So how come a simple race like the Midgardians, who didn’t possess any magic to begin with, could accomplishes something he could not?

As he quietly entered the hall, filled with tall cyan bodies, he was drawn from his thoughts by Mo’at’s raised voice,

“It is decided; my daughter will teach you our ways. Learn well, Jake Sully. Then we will see if your insanity can be cured.”

Silence descended over the hall for a short while. What was happening, Loki could not say as he still couldn’t see. Feeling nothing short of disappointment at having missed the whole display, Loki’s heightened feelings must have alerted Mo’at of his presence.

“Loki?” she called out and cyan bodies moved aside to let him pass, now that they were aware of his presence. Several hands were lowered to touch his shoulders in silent greetings as he walked towards the middle of the room.

“I was worried about you today. Eywa, has been very distant.” Mo’at would undoubtedly have said more but Loki was quick to stop her; he didn’t want to talk about his daily adventure now.

“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.” And he made a show to spread his arm out to display his unharmed self.

That, however, didn’t deter Tsu’tey from making his own assessment and Loki didn’t bother to smack the searching hands away. Loki would never admit it out loud, but he loved the attention and care bestowed upon him even though he pretended to be indifferent.

“You always laugh at danger, Taronyutsyìp, but do not dismiss us when we are worried,” Tsu’tey said as he caught Loki’s green eyes.

“But I’m fine,” he repeated and escaped Tsu’tey, to finally look upon the prisoner.

Jake Sully, as Loki had heard him called, looked like any other Na’vi. There was nothing distinctive about his features which gave him away at being an outsider. His face was perhaps a little boarder then normal within the Omaticaya clan, but other than his clothes and name, one could almost be fooled to believe that he was a Na’vi.

To Loki’s amusement, he wasn’t the only one busy with examining the other. Jake Sully’s curious eyes roved up and down his body and his mouth had slowly fallen open.

“Do you find me beautiful?” Loki couldn’t help but tease.

“Yes,” The dazed Jake Sully answered before realisation hit him. “No, I mean no.”

Loki just laughed, unaware of the other Na’vis angry sneers.

“I see, but all fun aside,” a small smile stayed on Loki’s lips as he lightly poked around Jake’s alien body, “I’m most curious about how your race has managed to change your forms. What kind of magic have you used?”

To Loki’s surprise the other male burst into laughter at his question and for a moment Loki didn’t know whether to feel insulted or humoured by the happy laugh.

“I’m sorry, but I have absolutely no clue about that myself. I’m just a… just a warrior.”

Loki had to look away from Jake’s intense golden eyes as they settled on him again, an unpleasant feeling beginning to erupt in the bottom of his stomach.

“I see; what a pity.”

_‘Then he isn’t of much use to me after all.’_

“Do you know of his people, Loki? He said that he is from the Jarhead Clan,” Tsu’tey asked, seemingly more than ready to attack Jake, should Loki give him the least bit of reason to do so. But Loki did no such thing and only looked back upon the uncomfortable soldier; curious to see what he would do now. To Loki’s surprise, Jake did nothing but smile sheepishly when he discovered that he had Loki’s attention again.

_‘The Jarhead clan, indeed, just what is he playing at?’_

This situation was nothing but the result of a coincidence. The awkward mortal had clearly gotten unlucky or lucky enough to have been caught by the clan, thus avoiding a night alone in the jungle. But Loki would not have him stay. He knew that the love and care of the Omaticaya clan could change people, he, himself, was a good example on that. But that change took time and Jake would only use his foothold in the clan to gather information and spy for his fellow species members’ and bring forth ruin and destruction on the loving people who had showed Loki kindness.  

“His race is indeed familiar to me. It is a primitive species my people call Midgardians and they hail from the realm Midgaard.”

“Who are you calling primitive?” Jake shot back, clearly insulted by the call, but he reserved saying anything more so as not to provoke the wary Na’vi Loki calmly observed.  

“The last time I visited your realm, your kind was nothing but pitiful creatures that had only just discovered fire and lived in caves.”

“That’s impossible,” Jake was quick to say, to which Loki only smiled,

“Do you call me a liar?” And when Jake didn’t say anything in return, Loki continued,

“I admit that your specie’s has evolved much from your last state, but you are still only humans.”

“Oh yeah, and what makes you so much better than us, aside from your physical appearance?” Jake asked, obviously pleased by his own question, if his gleaming eyes were any indication. 

 But Loki was done bantering with the male, who had nothing more of interest left to say to him, and seemed more interested in flirting with him than anything else, much to Loki’s annoyance.

“Are you all sure that we shouldn’t just kill him now?” Loki turned to ask Eytukan, completely ignoring Jake‘s shocked expression as he continued to voice his thought aloud. “He is a danger to all of us. He will only ever support his own people and we are stupid for wasting our breath and energy teaching one who can’t be taught.”

“It has already been decided that he is to stay.” Mo’at, was the one to answer. “Eywa has led him to us like she did you.”   

“I see,” Loki mumbled angrily, for nothing he could say or do from this point on would change Mo’at’s decision. He knew that the moment she mentioned their deity, Eywa.

 “I will see you all in the morn; it has been a long and tiring day and I will go to get some rest.” Loki’s departure was met with many replies and well wishes for a pleasant night, but Loki didn’t hear nor reply to them, occupied with the wild thoughts running through his head.

 

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Loki woke the next morning much later than he was used to, perhaps more exhausted by the previous day’s activity than he had first realised. The first light had only started to shine, it still being early in the morning, but Loki was used to being one of the first down for breakfast, but now the ruckus of the morning feast alerted him of his late awakening.   

He was quick to change out of his skin-tight pants from yesterday into his beloved gold-studded, red cloth from home. With a wave of his hand, his hair came loose of the many gold rings which he attached to his arms and lower legs, and his hair blew loosely around down his back.

Breakfast was, as always, a rowdy affair. The Na’vi were getting ready for a new day and everyone had to carry their own share of the weight. Someone had to watch and care for the children, teams had to be organised and sent to hunt and gather, others stayed to weave new fabrics, and some learned the skill of the bow or the spear.   

Before he had made his way to his seat, past all the Na’vi on the floor, Loki had been crowded with many offers to join different daily activities. Partially guilty for not joining in on any clan activities the day before, Loki agreed to help Liyanin dive after shell creatures for today’s supper. Part was also for his own selfish reason, the small creatures were delicious, eaten cooked or raw, and he never could resist the temptation of eating a few while diving.

Loki sat gracefully down beside Tsu’tey, and accepted the passing bowl of bread and fruits with nimble fingers.

“I don’t like the way he stares at you,” Tsu’tey spoke from beside him, preventing Loki from passing the broken ball of bread into his mouth in order to see what had provoked Tsu’tey so early in the morning.

Jake was indeed starring at him, but he completely failed to do so discreetly. As a stranger, his presence and strange manner made all the Na’vi aware of him along with the fact, that Jake hadn’t touched his food once since Loki entered the hall.  

A smile broke out on Loki’s lips when Neytiri grew impatient with Jake’s pace of eating and elbowed him in the side, which made Jake look bewildered around.

“So?” Loki asked before taking a bite of his own food.

“I don’t want you to get hurt. We’ll have to be extra careful around him until he falls and shows his true colours; only then can we get rid of him.” Tsu’tey didn’t bother to lower his voice, speaking to anyone who wanted to hear. Not that it mattered; Jake couldn’t speak or understand the language of the natives, and the Na’vi around them all shared Tsu’tey’s views.

“You don’t have to warn me,” Loki replied before taking a bite of the sweet fruit from his plate; chewing and swallowing. “I’m aware that he can’t be trusted, which is why I will keep my eyes on him as well.”

“You’ll do that, Taronyutsyìp,” Tsu’tey said while beginning to take small bites of his own food. “Just be sure that you don’t do more than that.”

Giving Tsu’tey a sidelong glance before averting his attention back upon his breakfast, Loki spoke,

“I can’t possible imagine what you are referring to.”

After that, Loki had been quick to finish his breakfast, mad at Tsu’tey for his quick and awkward comments. He was no child; while smaller than the Na’vi, he had reached adulthood, but Tsu’tey seemed to forget that from time to time.

Loki and Liyanin left Hometree with finely woven empty bags and baskets, and walked the short distance to the deep blue lagoon, where the shell creatures lived and bred. It was a deep, freshwater hole, so unlike the others around the jungle; its bottom had yet to be touched much less even seen.

When they reached the wet edge, they dropped their baggage and stripped off their clothes before stepping fully into the water.

The empty bags and baskets, bound along the water edge, were slowly filled with shell creatures. Loki and Liyanin were careful to keep them in the water to keep them fresh, before they would carry them home to eat. Loki ate his fill and played around the water with an equally playful Liyanin in between work.

“Jake!” Loki was startled to hear Neytiri’s cry of alarm behind him and wholly unprepared for the direhorse running directly against him. He only just managed to throw himself out of the way before the horse trampled through the place he had stood moments before. He, however, had no time to avoid the next obstacle which fell upon him from above.

Loki was pressed under the water by the heavy body on top of him and the force of the impact had made him breathe mouthfuls of water through his nose and mouth. Loki was vaguely aware of the other body moving away from him and the next moment he was heaved up from the water into the air by big hands on his shoulders.

Loki spluttered and coughed to clear his lungs, meanwhile, his hands flailed around him in mild panic for something to hold on to and he desperately grabbed the warm flesh his hands first came into contact with.

His view was obscured by his black hair which clung along his body and face, but now that he was steady at last, and somewhat more calm, he freed his left hand to push the hair out of his eyes.

It was Jake who stood towering before him, both of their feet still stuck in water and with his hands still on Loki’s naked body. 

“Are you okay?” Jake dared to ask with a stupid smile stuck on his face.

_‘How dare he!’_

Loki couldn’t believe the nerve of this male that was smiling at him and touching him so carelessly. The sneer Loki threw back at Jake was all teeth, and Jake’s hands flew away from him with a hiss, as Loki let his body’s automatic defence mechanism forth.

“If you touch me again, you will find yourself short of a pair of hands.” And with all his might, Loki pushed at Jake’s chest and made the taller male fall back into the water on his behind. Loki didn’t linger to stare at Jake’s stupefied expression; he was suddenly self-consciousness and uncomfortably aware of his nudity. With a last angry hiss, Loki went to return to the bank where his cloth laid from where he had carelessly stripped. His strides were long and quick in his haste to cover himself, and he was grateful when he could finally wrap the red leather around himself again. Loki wasn’t ashamed of his body, Jotuns could walk naked freely amongst one another, but before Jake, his body was on display in a manner he didn’t like.

“Loki, are you okay?” Neytiri and Liyanin asked as they carefully gathered around him like he was a spooked animal.

“I’m fine,” he told them, fastening the black string around his hips with a little knot before looking past them at Jake, who had risen from his wet seat. “Perhaps I overreacted,” he said with a thoughtful tone. “I’m sorry if I scared you two.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Loki,” Neytiri was quick to say before she was upon Jake. “Jake, you have to be more careful in the future, and you also have to apologize for your mistake.”

Jake wasn’t the least intimidated by Neytiri’s raised voice or the rap on his side when he stepped closer; he had without a doubt gotten use to her temper during the day, after failing to reach her expectations. Neytiri wasn’t the best of teachers, still young and quick to anger, but it seemed that Jake had already learned to adjust.  

“I’m sorry…” but Loki just waved Jake’s apology aside before he could even begin.

“No matter, I’m not happy with how things happened but it was all an accident and I can forgive you for that.” But while his voice was light and his smile present, Loki was far from having forgiven Jake for his humiliation.

“Let us sit down for a bit.” Loki gestured to the rocks by the water edge. “Liyanin and I have caught many shells for tonight’s supper so you are welcome to them, should you be hungry.”

The two Na’vi females turned to occupy some seats and Loki turned to follow but was stopped by Jake’s hesitant hand on his arm. 

“Look, you don’t have to forgive me if you don’t want to,” Jake said with a hesitant but honest smile on his face. “You feel humiliated and, though I will want to reassure you that you have no reason to feel so, you can’t, just like you can’t just forgive me.”

To say that Loki was surprised would be an understatement; how could Jake read him so easily? Loki was a proud being with many faults but he was gifted enough to hide the fact, yet Jake had seen through him and all he did was smile at Loki.

When Jake didn’t get burned by Loki’s cool skin, he gave his arm a light squeeze.

“I’d rather have you hate me than have your silent contempt and false friendship. Somehow, I think that I would come to regret that more.”

“You are not as empty-minded as I had first thought.” After a short break of silence, Loki added with unconcealed sarcasm, “Good for you.” Having nothing more to say about the matter, Loki walked away from Jake to join the chattering Na’vi females by the water.

“I heard from Grace that you were visiting yesterday,” Jake said as he fell into step beside Loki but stopped midstride when Loki came to an abrupt halt.

“Don’t tell them, they will just worry needlessly,” Loki insisted while indicating towards the two females a short distance away.

“I won’t. Grace just wouldn’t shut up about you, she was moaning all morning about how much she wanted more samples from you, since she had never seen anything like you before. That woman is so damn curious, but I can’t help but be slightly curious about you too. What’s your story? If you are not from Pandora; how did you end up with these people?”

 “You can stay curious for all I care; my past is not your concern.”

“The past is in the past, and I can’t imagine much will change should I get to know yours,” Jake replied persistently, not that Loki could understand why he bothered when he already knew that Loki wouldn’t give.

“Who can really tell? But I feel no need to share information, no matter how trivial it may be, with a spy like you. Do you even know what you are doing here? These people are good, and what your people are doing is wrong. Claiming this land for their own, destroying the land and wealth around them;” Loki indicated to the forest and ground around them. “What is your purpose here other than to destroy?”

“All I ever wanted was a single thing worth fighting for: a purpose.”

“Well, that is simple,” Loki said with a cynical smile. “You need a mate. Your, human’s, only purpose in life is, after all, to survive and reproduce before you die a meaningless death.”

Loki was once more surprised when Jake just threw his head back and laughed as if he hadn’t insulted the whole human race. “It seems that I won’t even manage to accomplish that. But what about your own significant life, isn’t your life meaningless to?”

“My purpose?”

“Let me guess, that is not my concern either?” Jake joked with a light-hearted shrug of his shoulders. It was not mocking, but neither did Jake hide the fact that he thought Loki’s need for secrecy a tad excessive.

“My purpose seems to be forever changing; to rule and prosper, to survive, to live the last of my days as a prisoner in the pretence of maintaining peace, but now my purpose is to find my home.”

Somehow the words just slipped past Loki’s lips without his permission, and Loki was staggered by his sudden lack of control in Jake’s presence. 

“You are lost,” Jake said in revelation, and Loki looked up into Jake’s yellow eyes, only to feel his mouth open again and confirm what Jake had already stated.

“Indeed, it is a blessing as much as it is a curse.”

“Jake, Loki, come join us,” Neytiri drew their attention with a loud call; she was waving her arms gesturing for them to come and join them by the water.

“We’ll be there in a moment,” Jake called back and turned to face Loki again when the two females went back to their own conversation.

“You say that you want to find your home but to me it seems that you have already found it here with the Omaticaya clan,” Jake finished in a soft voice and Loki, contemplating his words, turned to look at the laughing and chattering females. Unbidden warmth filled his chest, a feeling Loki had grown more and more acquaintance with in his time with the Omaticaya clan. 

“Perhaps,” was all he said, pushing the thoughts and feelings aside to ponder over at a later time. 

“Perhaps,” Jake mused along with him, before a playful grin broke out on his whole face.

“Or, could it be, that what you seek in truth is just a mate of your own?”

Loki had not anticipated to have his own words thrown right back at him. It was wholly unexpected but also a welcome surprise and Loki couldn’t help his own playful reply,

“Is that a proposal?”

It was impossible for Loki to keep his face straight for long, not when Jake’s face filled with panic and his mouth hung uselessly open, Loki’s mask broke and his laughter filled the air.

“You should see the look on your face,” Loki said in the mist of laughter.

“And here I had hoped that you were serious,” Jake said in a hurt voice.

Loki couldn’t contain his snort,

“Don’t be daft. I have only just escaped my last engagement and I’m not currently seeking to shackle myself to another at the moment.”

“You have been engaged before?” And just like the other times in the past few minutes, Loki’s mouth opened as if on its own accord. 

“Two times now. I was, upon my birth, engaged to mate with lord Thrym, a mighty giant amongst my people and a renowned warrior. But before we could mate, I was taken from my home after a great war, and engaged to the prince of my people’s sworn enemies. Thor,” Loki spat the name out as if the name alone called forth a foul taste in his mouth, “the God of thunder and a suitor of war; a beast of a man. I’ll be happy to never set my eyes upon him again.”

“Thrym and Thor… mhhh,” Jake mused with a puzzled expression.

“Yes, have you heard of them?” Loki inquired. It was doubtful that Jake had, but there was still a slight possibility, and Loki clung to that hope, but not for very long.

“No, I’m just wondering how that would work.”

Jake suddenly seemed shy all of the sudden, he certain didn’t want to meet Loki’s eyes.

“How, what, would work?” Loki asked curiously.

“The children,” Jake awkwardly stated while rubbing at his quickly colouring neck. “Wouldn’t a lord and a prince need heirs to continue their lines?”   

“They would, and it would fall on me to carry and birth said heirs. As a Jotun, one of the few intersexed species, I’m quite capable of both fathering and carrying a child.”

“Intersexed,” Jake mumbled as his gaze fell upon Loki’s flat chest. Perhaps, he expected to find an explanation or a pair of newly sprouted breasts to confirm Loki’s sex.

“It is impolite to stare,” Loki stated with drawl and his voice made Jake snap out of whatever trance he was in. His head drew back from where it had once been lowered, and his eyes flew away from Loki’s pierced nipples.  

“I don’t have breast, their purpose is moot until the day I’m heavy with child,” Loki explained before adding with a coy smile. “Do you have any more questions I need to answer?”

Jake swallowed visibly and shied away once more when Loki caught his eye. When he spoke, his voice low and raspy.

“Not for the moment, no.”

_‘You’re sure about that?’_

“Well then, if you are sure, I think that we should finally join the others.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Did the first meeting play out like you had hoped or did I fail your expectations? Also, I’m still curious about what you all thought of the last chapter; was the interaction between Loki and Quaritch too much?


	6. Chapter 6

Jake’s heavy stare was a constant weight upon Loki in the following weeks. It wasn’t that Jake followed him around; he was much too busy evading Neytiri’s ire by completing her training. But Jake was now a part of clan life and that meant he ate, slept, and frequented the same areas as Loki. Meetings between them were quite unavoidable, but Loki didn’t mind as much as he had thought that he would have.

Not that they had many opportunities to talk to one another. Jake was kept busy, be it with bow practice, languages, hunting, either that or the Na’vi would always have reasons to keep them away from each other, especially Tsu’tey.  

Not that they even talked as much as they bickered when the chance finally arose. But stare Jake would, and whenever Loki made to acknowledge Jake by meeting his stare, Jake would just send back one of his silly grins.

Loki could always feel his blood boil whenever Jake would smile stupidly at him. When Jake had been allowed to hunt two weeks back and had been tasked with the work to bring back meat for the night’s supper, it had been Loki that Jake had sought to impress. That day, when Jake came back from the hunt with the dead Hexapede, Jake avoided the other Na’vi who, for once, watched him with emotions other than hostility. Jake had looked searchingly around the mass of cyan bodies, only to stop when his golden eyes finally found Loki. Like a creatures of baser instincts, Jake had puffed out his chest while presenting his kill. He had wanted Loki’s approval almost like the male direwolves of Jotunheim whenever they wanted to impress potential mates.

Loki did not know what Jake’s game was, but if he wanted to mate with him, he would have to do more than curl his lips in all matters of smiles and kill animals for supper.   

_‘Not that I have any desire to interact any further with him.’_

But today Loki hadn’t been subjected to any form for staring or strange smiles, which was odd considering that he hadn’t ventured more than 30 feet away from Hometree. Glancing down from his spot in one of Hometree’s thick upper branches, he couldn’t see any sign of Jake among the small moving dots on the ground.  

An irritated noise rose from Loki’s throat and it took him a few seconds to realise what he had just been doing. The noise died immediately after as his throat constricted together uncomfortably. He didn’t, however, have time to reprimand himself for his lack of control, before an unfamiliar ikran flew into his range.   

It was not uncommon for overprotective Na’vi parents to warn their young ones to be wary of wild ikrans, who would snatch and eat them whole. Thankfully, such a thing had yet to happen while Loki had been around the tribe, but it was the first thought that popped into his mind as the ikran flew directly toward him; maw wide open with a shrill cry.

Loki didn’t have a chance to get up and away. Instead he fell on his back, whether it was by surprise or the powerful wing blows was unclear at the moment. He was just about to call forth his ice with the ikran almost upon him, when he heard his name being called above the noise of the wingbeats.

“Loki.”

The ikran did not land upon nor eat him, instead it landed beside him in a crouch with its wings lowered upon the tree branch to hold itself upright. Only then could Loki see the rider on the ikran’s back.

It was Jake with his silly smile and all.

“Loki,” Jake repeated again, his voice brimming with excitement, as he jumped down from the ikran’s back to grab hold of Loki’s hand and hurl him to his feet.

“I did it, he’s mine,” Jake babbled while leading Loki closer to the restless ikran. Loki was a tad worried that Jake’s head would fall off of his shoulders with the pace he kept looking between the ikran and Loki to watch his reaction.

“The word ‘flying’ gets a whole new meaning now that I have him; it’s amazing.”

Loki didn’t have time to make a sarcastic remark before Jake had swung him over his shoulder and climbed back upon the ikran to take flight.

“Put me down,” Loki screamed over the wind, but it was too late now and he could only watch as the ground grew farther away. With another beat of Loki’s fist upon the wide blue back, he was moved down from Jake’s shoulder. Jake was careful to slide him down his chest and place him in front of him between his arms.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Jake asked. But Loki could only feel the timbre of Jake’s voice from where his back was pressed against Jake’s chest; he couldn’t hear the words. Loki was too busy clinging to Jake’s arms in fright; he was staring blindly ahead, unable to see the open skies, flying animals, and the beautiful jungle below.

Loki had hated flying the moment Thor had taken him in his arm and swung Mjölnir. The experience had been unpleasant and alien, and Loki hadn’t been at all prepared for the sudden flight. Afterwards, he had made Thor swear to never take him flying again and it was a small miracle that Thor had, for once, listened to him.

A soft bump knocked Loki out of his stupor with a small jerk. Jake’s chin had come to rest on the top of his head of raven-black hair, and the nerve of the gesture almost made Loki want to protest.

“Calm down. You have nothing to fear, I won’t let you fall.”

Loki knew that he had already completely failed to hide his uneasiness, but he wasn’t about to shame himself more than necessary. It was difficult to pull himself back together but somehow his voice didn’t waver as he spoke.  

“Of course you won’t; I would kill you if you did,” he said trying to sound like his usual haughty self. “But this is completely unnatural and I would much rather be back on the ground.”

“You have never dreamt about flying before?” Jake then asked teasingly.

“I have wishes for a great many things, but like with all wishes, when they come true you wish for something else.” That had at least been the case the last few years of Loki’s life. While starving in Jotunheim, he had wished for food but in Asgard where food had been plenty, the sight of it made him ill. When he then had wishes to escape Thor, he had not only escaped him but also the chance of seeing his family and home again.

“But how can you not enjoy this? What is it about flying that is so unpleasant? If I could, I would fly around forever.”

“Well, that is nice,” Loki said with a sarcastic drawl, “but could you leave me out of it?” 

“Why?” Jake replied with fake surprise. “It is, after all, much more enjoyable when I have you here with me.” Loki didn’t have to look at Jake to know that he was smiling stupidly. 

“I’m flattered that you think so highly of my company but I will remind you that if you seek to involve others in you escapades, you have to ask for their permission first.”

Jake laughed loud and deep, and Loki couldn’t escape the warmth radiating from Jake’s body into his own.

_‘Perhaps, I should just jump.’_

“Wise words indeed. But I have learned, Loki, that if I’m to get anywhere with you, the last thing I should do is ask for permission. You would fight tooth and nail and decline any of my invitations to learn more about you. And I can’t have that.”

Loki was about to protest but the words died on his tongue. Jake was right. He would never had agreed to flying if Jake had given him the choice instead of taking action and then, Loki would have probably never tried flying again. Tsu’tey had asked him many times to fly with him but Loki had refused every time. In advance, he had judged that he wouldn’t like it, even without trying.   

In truth, flying wasn’t all that bad now that he had gotten used to it. Perhaps, it helped that Jake had sensed his distress within moments of flight and they hadn’t done anything more daring than flying in a straight line. The ikran’s wings rose and fell in calm, steady intervals and the strong wind was pleasant against his skin.   

But Loki chose to keep silent, unwilling to voice his own mistake.

“Are you ready to try something new now?” Jake asked, changing the topic and Loki once more marvelled at Jake’s ability to understand him.

“Really, do I get to choose?” Loki teasingly replied. “And here I thought that you would just take action. Or perhaps, this is just a petty curtesy and the outcome will be the same no matter what my answer may be.”

“It’s no jest; I will let you choose.”

“Why, how kind of you,” Loki bit back playfully, sharing a smile with Jake over his shoulder. “Well, since I have survived so far, it won’t hurt me to try.”

Jake’s left arm released its grip upon the long limb connected to the ikran’s head, to wrap around Loki’s waist. “Tell me if I should stop.”

Not long after, the ikran followed a silent command made by Jake and moved down in a head dive. It was maddening. The thrill in his belly, his heart lodged somewhere in his throat, and the wind made his eyes water. Yet Loki couldn’t contain his laugh as they flew around, up and down, faster and faster.  

 

When they came to a stop it wasn’t anywhere near Hometree but upon one of the large floating rocks hanging around the perimeter. They slid to the ground together, tumbling down with a laugh before the ikran flew away to leave them on their own.

“Your hair is a mess.”

Jake’s hand came up to remove one of the wild curls hanging before Loki’s face. They were so close, still standing together, almost touching. Neither of them moved for some time. Jake was just looking down at him, the look in his eyes making Loki want to take the final step forward and touch him. 

_‘What am I doing; he is a mortal man.’_

His shock must have shown on his face, given the hurt that flashed through Jake’s eyes, and unintentionally Loki had placed his palm on Jake’s solid chest to keep him at bay. Loki regretted his action immediately and looked away when he couldn’t bear to look at the other male. The tension between them was thick and for once Loki was grasping for the right words to say.   

“Why are we stopping here?” That was the best Loki could come up with, but at least Jake went with it.

“I just thought that this was a good spot to grab some food, unless you would rather we head back?” It hurt that Jake wasn’t looking at him but Loki had to remind himself that it was his own fault. The good mood was ruined and yet Loki still didn’t want them to head back.

“Let us stay; I’m starving.”

The spot Jake had picked was perfect. The floating rock was filled with fruit trees, heavy with uneaten fruit as there were no fruit-eating animals that could access it so high up in the air. They both took their pick before sitting down to eat in a spot that wasn’t covered in overripe fruit-droppings. Loki was unsuccessfully trying to find the right words to start a conversation but luckily, Jake beat him to it.

“Now that you have overcome you fear of flying, will you be getting your own ikran?” Jake still wouldn’t look at him. He had asked the question but Jake didn’t seem to care much about the answer the way he stared out on the amazing view they had. Loki could really care less about the view. 

“How could I? I don’t have a queue like you have and therefore no means to create a bond.”

“I see,” Jake replied shortly before they once more entered silence.

Loki couldn’t very well tell Jake, however much he wanted to break the silence, that he in fact had a queue of his own. It was just one of the many changes the white tree had made on his body. Loki had discovered the queue quite by accident in the middle of pleasuring himself and had at first been freaked out by its existence. No longer then two inches inside his anus, the small pink tendrils would reach out for his intruding fingers.

Loki, probably, could create a connection to an ikran. But to try wasn’t without its risks and as Loki’s queue wasn’t in the most accessible of places, it would be even more difficult than usual to accomplice. 

Taking a few bites of his own, Loki decided to ask a question of his own, something that had been on his mind for some time.

“Why are you here? I don’t mean you in general but your kind, what is your goal here?”

“We are here, Loki, because Earth is dying.”

“What do you mean Earth is dying? How can it be dying?” Loki asked, completely flabbergasted. Midgard was one of the richest realms both in resources and animal diversity, so young and new compared to other inhabited planets.

“The trees are gone, along with the animals and fresh water. We can’t grow anything in the earth or breathe the air because of pollution. We haven’t seen the sun in years because its rays can’t get through the smog that surround the planet. We have overpopulated the earth and if not for the resources we have gathered here from Pandora, we would have died sixty years ago.”

_‘What?’_

It was unthinkable to imagine the picture Jake had painted, when Loki’s own memories said something else. Earth dying… how could it have happened? But it wasn’t an impossible scenario. Odin, while claiming to protect Midgard, only wanted to prevent others from harvesting and using Midgard’s resources against Asgard. Odin didn’t care for the humans, he held no love for them, and he would have no problem letting them die when he probably thought them destined to do so anyway.

The children of Midgard were truly selfish compared to the children of Jotunheim. Jotunheim’s people would rather die than take and kill their mother. The weakest would die and with their deaths, balance would be restored, and some of them would live on to get a second chance.

“You must know that it is too late. With Earth’s death, no life will survive there, no matter how many resources you bring back. All you are doing now is killing this place, the last chance you have to adapt and change. You have escaped Earth’s confines, you have a second chance to ensure that your legacy doesn’t die, but you don’t care. You go by the same pattern as you always have, destroying.”

“That is not true,” Jake argued angrily, turning to face Loki in his anger. “Am I not learning to be one of the clan, am I not adapting to this place?”

“Are you indeed?” Loki said sceptically. “Can you look me directly in the eye and tell me that you aren’t here because of some alternative notion to help your people steal what rightfully belongs to this land?”

Jake broke eye contact with him immediately, and that was all the answer Loki needed. Suddenly feeling very ill, Loki was unable to look upon the other male anymore. He was getting up to leave, not that he could really leave the place without Jake, when a hand grabbed his arm and spun him back around.

“What will you have me do? Abandon everyone? Do you know how many people are dependent on us? I can’t just let them die like that.” From the way Jake looked at him, Loki could tell that this had been bothering the other male for some time, and that his stupid mortal morals were preventing him from making the right choice. 

“That is where you are wrong. Either all of you die, or some of you live. That is the will of nature, and right now you have the chance to live. I can’t see why that is such a difficult choice to make.”

“You can be quite heartless when you want to be, Loki,” Jake said, letting go of his hand.

Looking down at Jake, who was still sitting on the ground, the male suddenly looked so sad and Loki couldn’t stop the teasing words leaving his mouth, before he had thought the words over.

“Heartless I may be, but I know that you like me anyway.”

Loki didn’t even have time to regret his words before Jake threw him one of his stupid smiles and pulled him closer with a hand to his back.

“That is true,” Jake stated, his head tilted back so that he could look Loki in the eye, for while sitting down his head just reached the height of Loki’s nipples. “Just shows how much of a great fool I really am.”

The hands upon the bare skin of Loki’s back tightened a bit, a lone thumb slid down to caress the skin of his front, stretching over his ribs.

“Can I kiss you, Loki?”

His own emerald green eyes hooded and fell down the lines of Jakes face to look at his slightly parted lips, not missing the way Jake’s throat bobbed under his attention.  

“Do I really get to choose?” Loki whispered back breathlessly as the distance decreased between them.

“You always have the right to choose.”

Loki looked directly into Jake’s warm, golden eyes to confirm that this wasn’t a trick, only to have all doubt flee from his mind. Their mouths clashed together, hot and cold, and they both groaned at the sensation.

Loki was the one who first opened his mouth to deepen the kiss; for the first time he was curious and wanted to taste the person he was kissing.

They grabbed at each other. Loki’s arms were around Jake’s neck, in his hair, caressing and clawing at every bit of skin. Jake marvelled at the smooth skin and markings upon Loki’s chest and back, before he carefully took hold of Loki’s chin to angle his face to the side.

Their kiss grew deeper and slower, sucking and just feeling the other. Loki had no concept of time but he suddenly became dizzy with the lack of air. Their tongues parted and Loki gasped for breath the moment he could concentrate on drawing air. He had yet to open his eyes; not yet ready to let go of the sensations. 

Apparently Jake wasn’t either, for he continued to lay small kisses and suck on Loki’s tender lower lip. Again and again he would take the abused flesh between his lips and caress the saliva coated skin with his own.

“Jake,” Loki breathed out with pleasure, finally opening his eyes.

_‘That stupid smile again.’_

Loki would never admit to making a stupid smile of his own, before placing a quick kiss on Jake’s big blue nose.

“Stupid mortal, do you realise what you have done?”

“I do,” Jake whispered, bringing their foreheads together. “I have chosen to live, and I want to live together with you Loki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all of you lovely people out there who's reading my story – Thank you!! I get your kudos, comments and love; gifts I never will get tired of.  
> Special thanks to: Jewel131415, DeliciousBlood, Nephilim667 for taking the time to write words of encouragement to me. Special special thanks to PotionsChaos and Kristie for having done so more than once already!!


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